Steven Garofalo
Spirituality/Belief • Education • News
A GREAT NATION MUST BE A SALTY NATION
By Steven Garofalo, July 31, 2023 (Copyright 2023)
July 31, 2023

SEE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AT THE END

TODAY'S ADDRESSES THE ISSUE THAT: "A GREAT NATION MUST BE A SALTY NATION”

What makes a great nation? Today I am going to show you in order to be a great nation, that nation must be filled with salty citizens that make the nation in whole be-salty. What I mean by salty is directly related to being fully committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ and the entire biblical Scriptures. When a people, culture and nation is actively “salty” in biblical terms, they are in total blessed, provided and protected. What a people, culture and nation looses its saltiness, they become unraveled because they were kept together as a whole and blessed by the hand of God to begin with.

“He existed before all things, and he holds everything together. God's Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together”(Colossians 1:17 CEV). When we lose our saltiness, we end up intentionally or non-intentionally rejecting God. As a result, God rejects us in His blessings and provision. As a result, the culture, nation and people’s moral sanity begin to fall apart. Welcome to 2023. In order for us to get back to being a great nation, we need to address and get back to the central issue of how we do that which is found in Matthew 5:13-16 which says this:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

America was made great by great men and women of God, who feared, followed and trusted in the God of the Bible. As a result, God’s light shined through them and simply couldn’t, wouldn’t and didn’t want to be hidden. As a result, God raised up and blessed America. In contrast, verse 13 tells us what happens to any people, culture and nation that fails to become or remain “salty” for God’s Word and ways. This begs the question as to what the MEANING of “SALT” or “SALTY” is. In a nutshell, “Salt” does three major things. It preserves, creates thirst, and cleanses. In relation to the biblical wisdom regarding the body of Christ being and remaining salty, let’s now break that down.

  1. As Christians being like salt or “salty” means that we are to preservethe Christian faith from the degrading-secular erosion constantly being brought on by the secular culture. This is true not only for America but for every country around the world. This means that we are to stand firm and strong on and for the Word of God. And doing means not compromising the truth of God’s Word despite how counter-cultural it may seem. This mandates that you and I do not hide the word of God under a lamp shade, in our work place, in our community, government or anywhere else God takes us throughout our day. It doesn’t mean that we have to be in the face of the secular world about our faith either. We are not to express and share our faith in a way that welcomes a negative reaction, but simply that we stand firm and joyful on the Word of God as we interact with those He brings into our space in a tasteful way. That’s number one, we as Christians are to be preserves for the Word and truth of God through Christ.
  2. We, as Christians, like salt, are to create a thirst for God’s word in others; carrying out the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. This means that we are to be creating thirst in the mouths of those God calls us to throughout our world; a thirst for the truth of God and salvific gift of eternal life found only in Jesus Christ. This is a verb not a noun. It’s one thing to talk about doing this and another to live it out and simply do it. We are called to go out into ALL the world, including our family, workplace, and neighborhoods to help create that thirst. The goal showing folks their already existing true-spiritual thirst for God is to lead them to the true God of the universe to place their trust and life in Jesus Christ. Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”(John 4:13-15). That’s number two, to help create a spiritual thirst in others for the true God of the universe in Jesus Christ and draw them away from the false waters of the world that only leave them more thirsty then when they first began.
  3. When we as Christians are “salty” for Christ, we not only preserve the Truth of God and create a thirst for His Word for the next generation to inherit, we help others receive the redemptive, cleaning of their soul through trusting in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The way this works in summary is that when we share that truth with others, God’s Spirit will create a thirst for the living Savior Jesus Christ. In response to doing all this, we as Christians will have opened the door for the Holy Spirit to, just like salt, “cleanse” the unbeliever. Just like salt cleanses a wound, the blood of Jesus Christ makes the new believer spotless in the sight of the living Savior. Our sins are washed away and we are made clean because Christ gave His own body as a gift to God. He did this once for all time” (Hebrews 10:10-12).

In application for you and I as Christians, we must be like salt to the earth. If we, like salt loose our saltiness, we lose our good “taste” to the world. And today we have awoken to just that. This leads us to ask just how we can we regain that saltiness and be restored and restore our culture, nation and people to God’s favor? It’s a process and a discipline wrapped up in a sincere desire and thirst to pursue God through Jesus Christ. And this means becoming salty Christians once again. When we lost our saltiness, our Christian witness is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

You and I are the light of the world in this very way. And America has been and still is at the moment a great city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden. America has the chance to return to the God of Bible, not just in an emotional way, but in a biblically literate, committed, tenacious and salty way.

And when as Christians once again become a people living out the Christian faith and life in a salty way, we will once again become light a lamp that is no longer put under a basket, but on a stand that will give light to all in the world. Getting back to today’s passage, two similitudes follow the Beatitudes to point out the principle of “doing” following “being”. Simply point, there are those who talk a good game like a noun, and those who act upon living out their faith with action like a verb. Some Christians emphasize “being” so much they never get to the goal of “doing” what they are called to as a Christian “to do”. All of us will be called into account with all we have been given and what we do with what God gives us. So, let’s make those opportunities count.

IN CONCLUSION: I want to ask you personally to let your light shine before others this very day, so that the world, starting with those God calls into your space of life may see your good works and give glory to God our Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16). Remember, America was made great by great men and women of God, who feared God, following and trusting in Him and the Scriptures. And remember, we are called to be like “Salt”, which preserves, creates thirst, and cleanseswith the truth of God’s Word, the blood of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is what it takes in making a nation salty for God.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1) WHAT MAKES A GREAT NATION?

2) WHAT DOES GOD'S WORD MEAN BY CHRISTIANS BEING "SALTY"?

3) IN REAL LIFE, WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR CHRISTIANS TO "CREATE A THIRST" WITH THE UNSAVED AND PERHAPS EVEN THOSE WHO ARE SAVED?

4) CAN WE SAVE PEOPLE? WHO CLEANSES THE SOUL AND HOW DOES THAT WORK?

community logo
Join the Steven Garofalo Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
0
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
GOD’S LIGHT IS FOR YOU!

God’s Light IS A WONDERFUL GIFT for you and I as we start the new week!

00:01:32
PREPARING TO SPEAK IN PORTUGAL

Zach and I had a great long day one meeting with the pastor and a fellow believer…I got up this morning to go over my talk for the men’s conference which starts tonight into tomorrow and will go over my sermon for Sunday…I preach both services. The men’s conference far exceeded expectations so the even is looking to be packed with me. Seeking God’s will and calling for their life! Please keep us in your prayers. Much love and appreciation.-Steven

00:00:20
Live Chat
Let's Take Church & Faith Seriously

When we go to church, let us not take that for granted. Let's keep our eye's, heart and MIND focussed on God, His word and the sermon. Let's be careful to make promises to God we are not willing to keep. And let's enjoy being in God's presence. Let's take our faith and church seriously.

00:04:38
The Problem Is Not God's Hiddenness-It's Ours!

Why Doesn’t God Make His Existence Unmistakably Clear to Everyone? One of the most common objections to faith is: “If God is real, why doesn’t He just show Himself beyond all doubt?” Skeptics ask why God doesn’t write His name in the sky or make His presence undeniable. But Scripture, reason, and the earliest witnesses of the Church tell us a different story: God has already made Himself known, yet it is humanity that hides. In other words, it's NOT God, it's us!

The Problem Is Not God's Hiddenness-It's Ours!
Live Chat
WHEN GOD REWARDS OUR GIVING

Jesus addresses when God rewards us for our good deeds. To be more specific, Christ discusses three pharisaic practices of piety. They include: 1) GIVING 2) PRAYER and 3) FASTING. Today, we are going to look at the first of these, which is when God rewards or does not reward our “GIVING”.

WHEN GOD REWARDS OUR GIVING
Live Chat
RADIO INTERVIEW-LOOKING BACK-Religious Freedom in 04-09-15

With the United States and world at a moral cross roads, today, we are looking back to an interview from 2015 whereby Steven was interviewed regarding "Religious Freedom". This is not a critique of any specific issues-but is a look back almost ten years (a full decade) to see where we came from. WHY? Becuase heading into 2026 we can look back to see where we are going. Again, the issue is not a critique on sexual orientation, but about religious freedom. People are people-and all people are sinners. Let's make sure to be compassionate with non-Christians in an effort to reach them for Christ while standing without compromise on the orthodox Word of God. Is that difficult. Yes it is.

GOD BLESS YOU!

RADIO INTERVIEW-LOOKING BACK-Religious Freedom in 04-09-15
BUONA CENA!
YOU MUST RULE OVER IT-OR IT WILL RULE OVER YOU…

Our world is OVERFLOWING with sin at the moment and we have two choices:
1) Rule over sin.
2) Or our sin will rule over us.

Genesis 4:7 in the English Standard Version says this:

“7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for[b] you, and you must rule over it.”

GREATNESS SUFFERS

Which great Bible characters didn’t suffer or go through trials? That’s all part of God’s plan. He must do that to purify and prepare us for what’s next. Life in America is simply going back a more humble time…that’s good and great Christians to seek and trust our Lord. Our job is to…as imperfect as we may be - we are to seek him and persevere with all we have and are…trusting that He has called us to a mission to fulfill in our lifetime. God will provide. But we must be willing to accept some losses along the way…and be thankful in the blessings. It’s both :—Steven

1) Isaiah 41:10, promises God's strength and support.
2) Romans 8:28, assures that God works all things for good
3) 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 speaks of God providing comfort in troubles. 4) Other verses emphasize trusting in God's plan, like Genesis 50:20, and finding refuge in Him, as in Psalm 46:1.

Not Serpents of Skin, but From The Falsehood Of Sin: Uncoiling The Ending of Mark’s Gospel
By Del Potter, M.A.A. (Copyright 2025)

Not Serpents of Skin, but From The Falsehood Of Sin: Uncoiling The Ending of Mark’s Gospel

By Del Potter, M.A.A. August 27, 2025

Opening Remarks

From the outset, this article is NOT contending whether or not the ending of Mark 16 should be included. Although, it is in my humble opinion that some of the strange language in the ending of Mark actually affirms the truthfulness of the events inserted into the ending of Mark. There are several striking words in Mark's longer ending (Mark 16:17–18):

“These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them...”

As a first impression, the imagery suggests a miraculous ability to resist snakes and poison. It is nevertheless important to note that serpents and poison consistently function within Jewish, Biblical, and early Christian thought as symbols of false teaching and spiritual corruption, not simply physical danger.


Serpents in Scripture: Symbols of Deception

From the beginning of Genesis through Revelation, the serpent is never merely zoological—it is the archetype of deceit. In Genesis 3, the serpent slithers into the Garden not to bite with fangs, but to inject Eve with poisonous doubt about God’s word. Later Jewish wisdom literature follows this thread:

  • Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 21:2: “Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest too near it, it will bite thee.”
  • Psalm 140:3: “They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of vipers.”

This same imagery flows into the New Testament:

  • Matthew 23:33: Jesus calls the Pharisees a “brood of vipers,” not because of biology, but because of false teaching.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:3: Paul warns that, just as the serpent deceived Eve, so false teachers corrupt the simplicity of Christ.
  • Revelation 12:9: John describes Satan as a serpent “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

Therefore, when Mark refers to "serpents" and "deadly poison," his Jewish-Christian readers would have recognized the metaphor: heresy slithering into the church among the people with its false doctrine poisoning the entire church (2 Peter 2:1).


The Poison Of Heresy: A Dangerous Drink

The early Church frequently described heretical teaching as venom or poison. Ignatius of Antioch warned the Trallians:

“I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, entreat you that ye use Christian nourishment only, and abstain from herbage of a different kind; I mean heresy. For those [that are given to this] mix up Jesus Christ with their own poison, speaking things which are unworthy of credit, like those who administer a deadly drug in sweet wine, which he who is ignorant of does greedily take, with a fatal pleasure leading to his own death.” (Letter to the Trallians 107 A.D.).

This language reflects the very pattern of Mark 16—poisonous teaching disguised as nourishment. The faithful, however, are promised preservation: “it will not harm them.” The believer, rooted in Christ, can discern and resist corruption.

No early Christian expressed this more vividly than Tertullian of Carthage (c. 200 AD). In his treatise Scorpiace, he likens heresy to venomous creatures:

  • Heresy “creeps into the church like a scorpion,” injecting spiritual poison.
  • The faithful must resist with the antidote of Scripture, wielded like the staff of Moses against the serpents of Egypt.

Tertullian believed that the danger was not from reptiles in the marketplace, but rather from false teachers within the church. Similarly, heresy pierces the souls of believers in a quiet and lethal manner, just as the scorpion stings unseen. As a result, he viewed Christ's promise in Mark not as a test of reckless physical stunts, but as a promise that the faithful will not suffer from the venom of falsehood if armed with the truth. As Paul rightly reminds his audience:

 "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (i.e. snakes & poisons)." - Ephesians 6:11


Mark’s Ending and the beginning of the Early Church

NT writers wrote within a culture steeped in metaphor. The early church never staged snake-handling rituals to “prove” faith. Instead, they testified by enduring persecution, refuting heresy, and preserving sound doctrine.

The apologetic force of Mark 16 is not spectacle—it is survival. The church would face vipers in pulpits, scorpions in councils, and poison in doctrine. Yet Christ promises: “These things will not harm you.”

Just as in the first century, serpents and scorpions creep into the church today—not in the form of reptiles, but in the form of false witnesses, compromised truth, and distorted gospels. The call of Mark 16 is not to chase miracles, but to guard against lies.

In a world full of theological poison, the believer’s protection is not daredevil faith, but faithful discernment: Scripture, the Spirit, and the witness of the saints.

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers [i.e. snakes] among you, who will secretly introduce destructive [i.e. poison] heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” - 2 Peter 2:1


Closing Remarks

The ending of Mark’s Gospel, far from a literal dare, is a prophetic warning and promise:

  • Serpents = false teachers.
  • Poison = heretical doctrines.
  • The promise = Christ’s people, if grounded in truth, will not be overcome.

Tertullian’s scorpions, Ignatius’ poison, Paul’s vipers, and Jesus’ own words unite: the greatest danger to the church is not fangs and venom in the field, but lies and venom in the pulpit.

In Christ, the Church endures—immune not to biology, but to blasphemy.

Read full Article
MAN'S PROBLEM-"HIDDENESS"
By Del Potter, M.A.A., August 16, 2025

The Problem Is With Man's Hiddenness Toward God, Not Vice-Versa

Why Doesn’t God Make His Existence Unmistakably Clear to Everyone?

One of the most common objections to faith is: “If God is real, why doesn’t He just show Himself beyond all doubt?” Skeptics ask why God doesn’t write His name in the sky or make His presence undeniable. But Scripture, reason, and the earliest witnesses of the Church tell us a different story: God has already made Himself known, yet it is humanity that hides.

God’s Self-Revelation in Creation

Scripture consistently teaches that God’s fingerprints are everywhere. The Apostle Paul writes:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Psalm 19:1 echoes this truth: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Job reminds us that creation itself—beasts, birds, earth, and sea—all testify to the Creator:

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7–10)

God’s existence, then, is not hidden. It is written into the very structure of reality. As St. Athanasius later argued, creation itself acts as a universal witness, speaking of God’s power to every culture and language without need for words.

Why Does God Seem Hidden?

The real issue is not divine silence but human resistance. Moses records God saying:

“I will surely hide My face in that day, because of all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” (Deuteronomy 31:18)

This is not a statement about God being unknowable but about mankind turning its back to Him. God’s “hiddenness” is a moral and relational reality, not an intellectual one. As Isaiah wrote:

“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” (Isa. 59:2)

Early Christians echoed this. Justin Martyr argued that those who live according to reason (logos) recognize the true God through creation and conscience. Clement of Alexandria explained that ignorance of God is not due to His absence, but due to the blindness of the soul enslaved to passions.

The Attributes of God are Revealed According To His Nature.

If God were to force belief by overwhelming proof, He would violate the very nature of faith and love. Love cannot be compelled; it requires freedom. Blaise Pascal later captured this well: “There is enough light for those who desire to see, and enough darkness for those who do not.”

The early Church understood that God provides evidence sufficient for faith, but not coercion. Origen taught that God “gives signs to those who are willing to see, but hides from those who shut their eyes.” This allows space for genuine seeking, humility, and love—rather than forced acknowledgment.

God Is Not Hidden—We Are

When people ask, “Why doesn’t God make Himself clear?” the biblical answer is: He already has. The problem is not with God’s silence but with our ears. The witness of creation, conscience, Scripture, and Christ Himself leaves us without excuse.

It is not God who hides, but man who hides from God—just as Adam and Eve once hid in the Garden. And yet, even then, God sought them, calling out: “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).

The same God still calls today through the beauty of creation, the testimony of Scripture, and the living Christ. The question is not whether God is clear enough but whether we are willing to see Him more clearly!

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

Read full Article
INFALLIBILITY IS GREATER THAN INERRANCY
By Del Potter M.A.A.
 
God's truth (Infallibility) is greater than man's inability to write down or transmit His word (Inerrancy) perfectly. God's truth remains true regardless if man regards or disregards it to be true.
 
Allow me to explain more in-depth. Inerrancy, is defined as the belief that Scripture contains no errors in its original manuscripts, so obviously inerrancy struggles with textual variants like John 8:1–11. The story is missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus, Vaticanus) and its stylistic differences raise red flags for many textual critics. But if our faith rests solely on inerrant transmission, what happens when that transmission wavers? Are such passages now less inspired? We are warned from scripture itself that errant transmission could and can occur. God through Moses warns the Israelites that "You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I am commanding you" (Deuteronomy 4:2).
 
Jesus seems to place an exclamation point on this line of thinking and says “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15) clarifying further that if you love God you will not tamper with His word. God places a capstone on this discussion by warning His readers at the close of Revelation "and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book" (22:19). My point? We are warned through scripture itself there is and would be a problem with those that would add or even take away from God's infallible word thus making it errant and not inerrant. This is where the strength of infallibility steps in.
 
Infallible simply means “incapable of error.” The difference is God is incapable of error and is against His nature to error. "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless" (Psalm 18:30:). Inerrancy is like a flawless earthly mirror. Crack it, and it’s compromised. However, Infallibility is like the sun: Even if seen through a foggy lens, it still gives light and heat because its origin is not of the earth.
 
Psalm 119:89 reminds us that truth originates not in human manuscripts, but in the eternal counsel of God. Combined with John 21:25 - "Jesus did many other things... if all of them had been written down, the world itself would be unable to contain the volumes" We are confronted with a key theological insight: not all truth has been written, but all truth is known. In Scripture, it is clarified that omission from man's history does not imply absence from God's history. So, even when the earthly record is incomplete, the heavenly record has been completed.
 
Again, it is true that manuscripts such as Codex Sinaiticus omit stories like the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11), leading some to question its authenticity. Yet, early Christians like Didymus the Blind (pre-Nicene era) affirmed the passage’s existence in "certain Gospels." Augustine later wrote that some scribes intentionally excluded the story out of fear it could be misused to justify sin using the story of the Pericope Adulterae.
 
“Certain persons of little faith... removed from their manuscripts the Lord's act of forgiveness toward the adulteress.” (Augustine 'De Adulterinis Coniugiis' - 419 A.D.)
 
This demonstrates that the story may have been removed due to fear, politics, or human discretion, but not by divine silence. In light of Psalm 119:89, we must remember that God's word is "SETTLED" [Greek: Natsab = stationed/established] in heaven before it’s written on earth.
 
This challenges an empirical view of truth. If divine revelation is only accepted when it aligns with surviving manuscripts, the church’s oral tradition, apostolic memory, and lived theology are undermined. The early church did not rely solely on manuscripts, but on witnesses, oral, and Spirit-led preservation. As Tertullian wrote in the 2nd century:
 
“We do not need curiosity after Christ Jesus, nor inquiry after the gospel. When we believe, we desire to believe nothing more. For this we believe, that there is nothing else which we ought to believe.” - Prescription Against Heretics, Ch. 7–8.
 
Scripture acknowledges its own incompleteness—yet affirms the completeness of God's eternal counsel.
 
The failure to accept any truth that has not been recorded in early papyri amounts to ignoring the 'heavenly library' where truth is established. There is a consensus among Scripture, tradition, and theology that the absence of paper does not imply the absence of preservation. Despite the fact that earth has not penned it, that does not mean heaven has not done so. As Christians, we believe that the eternal Word, who is Jesus Christ, the Logos (John 1:1-14), has embodied and preserved all truth, some written, some spoken, and some remembered in the heart of the Church. The Word of God cannot fail - even if manuscripts do. That is the beauty and greatness of infallibility over inerrancy.
 
"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25).
Read full Article
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals