Mike J Kirkwood

Christian, Author, Photographer, and Gym Rat. For more about me and my book, join me at and follow me on Flickr@ARealWorldFaith.

[Mike J Kirkwood @ARealWorldFaith]

In our country where so many so smart experts cannot even define what a woman is, why should we believe anything they say about what is right, wrong, or true? Feelings are not facts, not everyone’s opinion matters, and believing does not make it true.

My Wife Sings Like A Canary
I checked for texts from my wife as I walked into the Everything Your Pet Deserves Super Store. They have more types of birdseed than bread at the grocery store. Fortunately, she did text me with the one she wanted. As I turned to head to the cash register, I saw Jerry, an old friend from yoga class, headed my way.

“Robert!” he called out. “Hey, how are you? Long time no see. Nice to see you. So how are you, anyway?”

“Good, good, Jerry. And you?”

“Awesome! You heard about the prison thing, right?”

“Of course! It's awesome!”

“I know, right? And exploding all across the country. Last I heard, since that first guy came out yesterday morning, there have been 347,281 other inmates that have identified as innocent. Can you imagine?”

“I know, right?”

“I just heard on the radio there are ‘Right to be Innocent’ celebrations breaking out all over.”

“I heard that. And there are 'Free The Innocent' marches everywhere too. By noon there won’t be a stitch of yellow ribbon or a yellow rose left anywhere.”

“Wow! But the best is, did you see the Senator from California they interviewed? The way he teared up when he said, ‘Just like you and me, they were born innocent.’ That really choked me up.”

“Right? OMG, it really hits home, doesn’t it? They were born that way!”

“And the money it’ll save! We’ve been wasting $50 Billion a year on incarcerating these poor souls. $50 Billion a year! And that doesn’t even include the cost of the courts, parole boards, law enforcement, bureaucratic nightmares like the Sex Offenders Registry, etc. etc. etc.”

“I know, right?”

“After we convert the prisons to something that actually helps society, we can use that money to help them catch up on the years they lost, the years we stole from them.”

“Right? Like gender-affirming therapy, housing—whatever. I’m glad it’s finally over, but we do owe them. And I am not talking free phones here.”

“Oh my God, no! We are talking reparations here, a million dollars each. No, no wait, a million dollars ain’t what it used to be. Five million. That’s only right, five million dollars. They deserve that much!

“I know, right?”

“But hey, back to what’s up with you. That seed you’re buying is the best stuff on the market. I didn’t even know you had birds.”

“We don’t. This morning my wife identified as a canary. I’m just picking up lunch.”

[Mike J Kirkwood @ARealWorldFaith]

BOOK UPDATE:
Today, having a social media platform is a necessary part of getting a book published. Despite not ever visiting a social media site even one time, that meant I needed to establish an online presence. Someone ought to write a book about that. No way that will be me.

At a time when the virtual reality of social media is a significant part of the real world, having such a platform does make sense: kind of. So now I have my very own 3-part social media platform.

The X post you are reading is the first plank of that platform. I’m still learning how X works, but I have the basics in place. As I have picked up the mechanics, like how to come up with a title and first paragraph that ends precisely inside the 280 character limit such that the “Show More” does not appear in the middle of a sentence, I have also finally settled on what my X page is about.

Things have come a long way from Twitter of the good ole days—that’s prior to November of 2017—and its 140 characters of text. These days, blog-length posts-not-tweets such as mine are common. And videos dominate the medium.

No doubt, life is different from what it was back in ancient history—the 1900s. In stark contrast to the archaic notion of “seeing is believing,” X is a virtually endless source of proof to the contrary. In 1975 the Eagles famously sang “you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.” Today, AI generated videos prove that you also can’t believe your lyin’ eyes.

People with many years less on planet earth than I have tell me that is progress.

50 years after the Eagles told us you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes, we are firmly entrenched in the “Information Age.” Translation: we can’t hide from lyin’ videos either. Big Brother-esque fathers, mothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and everyone else has a phone that records and posts to the world instantly.

Is that more progress?

It almost makes me hunger for yester-year and the days of Facebook’s nauseating pictures of half-eaten breakfasts. Almost.

My X page, as suggested by my handle, @ARealWorldFaith—which cleverly enough can be read as a “real-world” faith or a real “world-faith”—is none of that. Mine is a gathering place for those interested in thoughtful contemplation and reflection. Hopefully it also includes a healthy dose of satirical humor, and more importantly, some revelation of Truth. So please, stop by any time and cop a squat.

Sorry, back before the dawn of time, the 70s, that was an invitation to come in and have a seat.

Building the second part of my platform included a brief flirtation with Instagram. Its collection of I-phone snapshots of whatever is as palatable as breakfast with Facebook. Flickr, unfortunately not nearly so well known as Instagram, is a platform focused in art. In the fervent hope that you have no interest in me sharing pictures of my breakfast, I will continue to build out my Rocky Mountain Wild Flower Portraits Portfolio on Flickr.

So please follow me on Flickr, also cleverly enough, @ARealWorldFaith.

The third and final leg of the stool on which my social media platform rests is my newly launched website: https://t.co/m9LQiHzRGX—home base. There you’ll find things like why I write and specifically why I wrote "God Unshackled: Discover the Rationality of Christianity."

https://t.co/9aFXcxwg6A also showcases my photography, to include a collection of the 12 photos from "God Unshackled." Eventually it will include more than an additional 100 shots, which currently live in my Rocky Mountain Wild Flower Portraits Portfolio. Once I get them all loaded up, my Flickr page will feature 125 or more examples of my super-telephoto-macro photography.

Also inside https://t.co/m9LQiHzRGX is a page I call “Musings.” I named it that because it sounds way cooler than “A Blog.”

And of course there’s a place where you can share your thoughts with me.

Come to https://t.co/m9LQiHzRGX. See what the site, "God Unshackled," and I are all about. From there, decide if it isn’t time for you to step onto the path you were created to walk—to step onto His path to your Eternity.

Then take an easy small step; order my book—and let it begin…

[Mike J Kirkwood @ARealWorldFaith]

DIVIDED IS CONQUERED
The brokenness of the world means our best options may be tainted. Jesus said, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:25). Sometimes we have to sacrifice perfection for the greater good, or be Divided and Conquered.

Before I get to the kingdom part of this, I have my own real life and in real time story. My publisher is putting the final touches on my book, “God Unshackled: Discover the Rationality of Christianity;” the online pre-sale ordering will begin July 15, and the official release date is 12/1/26. Yet in the midst of those very good things, I find myself a victim of the divide and conquer strategy of the Enemy.

As the title of my book makes clear, it’s a Christian work. Its purpose is to remove stumbling blocks to belief in God and is “Dedicated to those who do not yet believe. To those new to the Faith and yet have questions. To those seeking tools to help them make disciples of all nations.” All good stuff.

It is a unique hybrid of a theological apologetic and an inspiring devotional that has been described as where C.S. Lewis meets Chuck Colson. It includes some of my own fine-art photography from my Rocky Mountain Wildflower Portfolio, opens with a chapter describing the logical basis for belief in God, and like the Bible “features dissertation, hyperbole, allegory, and metaphor; prose, poetry, and prayer; history, the word of God, and personal witness; pain, suffering, and joy.” Again, all good stuff.

One of my friends, a wonderful individual who has a powerful voice in the Christian community and has been supportive of my writing over the years, graciously offered to write an endorsement for my book. That’s not just good stuff, it’s great stuff. I shot an Email to my publisher to “hold the presses” as I had a “significant endorsement” in the works. My publisher was thrilled.

But this is where we get to the divide and conquer part. My book presents scripturally supported theology combined with the harsh realities of living in a broken world in a way that makes clear what and is the source and also who is remedy for brokenness from which we all suffer. From my book’s Foreword, which was written by Dr. David Corbin, Provost of Colorado Christian University:

“In this sense, Kirkwood’s near-death experience and failed marriage testify to the opposite truth, much as the ever-present shadow of our world serves as proof of the light behind all things. He has experienced the suffering drawn from bodily injury, the vicissitudes of nature, and interpersonal struggle. Yet to him they testify that God is not the maker of our unhappiness, but of our relief.”

Some of that shadow again broke into my world last week when that friend of mine was forced to renege on the offer to write that endorsement so crucial to a rocket-launched release of my book. The reason? After much scriptural research, soul searching and prayer, I devoted one of my ten chapters to the question of the ordination of women. My conclusion and position is in favor of the ordination of women—contrary to the position held by my friend. There will be no endorsement.

One of the foundational precepts of Christianity concerning how the members of the body of Christ, the Christian Church unified as the Bride of Christ, describes how to handle internal disagreements. It is this: agreement in the essentials, liberalism [flexibility] in the non-essentials, and in all things charity [love]. I am confident my friend and I agree on that. And yet my friend’s name will not, cannot appear attached to my book.

Am I angry with my friend? No. Absolutely not. I am, however, greatly saddened to see yet another example of the inter and intra-denominational discord that plagues the Christian Church. The Church, established by Jesus such that against it “the gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matthew 16:18) is a house divided against itself. And such a house cannot stand.

My friend and I disagree. But neither of us questions the authenticity of the Christianity of the other. We no doubt agree that we are both devoted Christians and our individual salvations are not put at risk by our disagreement. Those three simple truths identify the point of theology concerning the ordination of women as a “non-essential.” An important theological discussion point? Yes. Part of a larger and significant theological debate? Yes. Reason enough to not support my book with its powerful dissertations on the reality, truth, and nature of the loving God who created all that is and then chose to die on the cross rather than spend eternity without humankind? I’m not so sure.

My friend believes there was not another workable choice. I understand that; but why wasn’t there a better way? The answer is because one of the Enemy’s most effective strategies and tactics in his war against Creation is to divide and conquer the house of God. Yet despite so many Christians understanding that, my friend included, the inter and intra-denominational battles in the Church continue.

One of the victims of this battle was the opportunity to get the message of salvation to more people who do not yet believe. What a shameful loss that was. If we can’t agree to disagree with others on the same side, what chance have we of ever resolving the differences we have with those on the other side?

So the Enemy won this battle, but not the war. Remember that “the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1-5). And also this: God’s will be done.

On a secular level, America faces this same type of conflict in both political parties. The divisions between both parties and specifically within the Republican Party prevent passage of laws to protect our democratic republic—laws like mandatory voter IDs. Know this: while the Kingdom of God most assuredly will prevail, there is no such guarantee for America.

The answer is we need to return to our roots and remember what matters most: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator…”

It is only before that Creator that we will individually, each and every one of us, one day kneel. But in the here and now, we need to respectfully acknowledge our differences yet stand together as one for the greater good of God and Country.

God bless America! Amen

[Mike J Kirkwood @ARealWorldFaith]

SOCIALISM AIN’T DEMOCRATIC
Juliet laments that Romeo’s last name is what makes their love forbidden: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet."

But calling Socialism democratic does not make it smell any sweeter; it still stinks.

Socialism consolidates governmental control of the production and distribution of goods. Its entwining of politics and economic drivers also consolidates power and wealth in the government, making it—and select, elitist politicians—obscenely wealthy and abusively powerful.

But free-market Capitalism, with its private ownership and control of the production and distribution of goods, stands in stark contrast to Socialism. It democratically diversifies power and wealth across an ever-expanding private sector. It fosters inspiration as it builds a broader, deeper, wider path to success by incentivizing life changing innovation. It creates an environment where dreams can and really do come true.

In the mid-70s a college drop-out named Bill Gates started Microsoft in his garage. Apple’s first computer was built in the garage of Steve Jobs’ parents. And Amazon was born in Jeff Bezos’ garage in Bellevue, Washington. Founded by three men with a shortage of money but no shortage of dreams and drive, today these three companies combine for a market value of over $9 trillion dollars—that’s a 9 followed by 12 zeroes. That’s very nearly equal to the combined value of the entire stock markets of the UK, France, Germany, and Switzerland, which total about $9.3 trillion in market value.

Collectively these 3 companies directly employ approximately 1.3 million people in the U.S. alone. Combining the directly-employed with the indirectly-employed (suppliers, construction workers, broader economic ripple effects, etc.), the number of U.S. jobs generated and supported by these three companies is estimated to be between 4 and 5 million.

Only under America’s Free Market Capitalist System could 3 companies, all started in garages by individuals with no money, rise to such heights.

While promising the impossibility of freedom from responsibility, Socialism has historically delivered naught but poverty; the end-reality for socialism is misery for the many, privilege for the few.

In contrast with Socialism, Capitalism provides opportunity for the many, not just the few.

These are the choices on November’s ballot.

From Paul Gigot in his Wall Street Journal’s June 25, 2026, editorial:

“It’s hard to overstate how far to the left the Mamdani slate is. Aber Kawas, who won the primary for a state Senate seat, has said she found it ‘reprehensible' to apologize for 9/11 when America hasn’t apologized for its ‘system of capitalism, and racism and white supremacy.’ We guess she won’t be going to the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero.

“Darializa Avila Chevalier, who ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat, was a leader of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University after the 2023 Hamas massacre. She was for Hamas. She has called for abolishing police, prisons and borders. She called Joe Biden a ‘rapist’ and ‘war criminal’ and says the U.S. is ‘occupied’ Native American land and called the country a ‘f— disgrace.’ She favors seizing private property.’”

Chevalier may not be very bright, but at least she is crude and foul-mouthed. What’s not to love?

Ultimately, the shared shortcoming of all economic systems, including Capitalism, Socialism, and any combination thereof, is that they are but economic systems—merely mechanisms. Socio-politico-economic systems are nothing more than tools. Like hammers, they can be used to build hospitals and schools, or to nail a man to the cross.

While it can be argued that Socialism is an appealing humanitarian hypothetical/theoretical, the real-world failures of Socialism spanning the last 200 plus years are a real-world horror. And despite the obvious and measurable wealth of opportunity and outcome spurred by Free Market Capitalism, the abusive short-falls of unfettered Capitalism that prioritizes profits to the detriment of people gave rise to the need for unions in America. That’s another historical fact that cannot be ignored.

The failures of both are found in their common denominator—humanity’s brokenness.

From Reverend Joseph Odell in his sermon on June 21, 2026, at Saint George’s Anglican Church in Colorado Springs: “We are the Church Militant, the people of God, saved by the grace of God, remaining in this world to do battle against the enemies of God, the powers and principalities that resist his rule and seek to corrupt creation and humanity.”

It does not take a biblical scholar to recognize the world to which Father Odell refers, the world in which we live, is broken. Nor does it take a Rhodes Scholar to realize that Socialist Democrats’ promises of milk, honey, and golden eggs from poison ivy and cactus plants is akin to a tragic one act play in the Theater of the Absurd.

Those who attack Free Market Capitalism would devour the golden egg laying goose. Be warned—not only will there be no more gold, there will be no more eggs—not for anyone but the ruling class elites.

And despite what they claim, if we don’t stop those who would take God out of America, we will end up with a God-Forsaken America.

On the eve of our 250th anniversary, the time to choose is upon us. It is up to you, me, and us. Will it be Mamdani Islamo-Socialist Madness or the Church Militant?

Stand. Choose. And pray.

[Mike J Kirkwood @ARealWorldFaith]

Lost? Looking for directions?

Sorry, but your GPS and Map Quest will not work.

But this might. I’ll explain in a minute, but first, pray these three words: “Thine, not mine.”

Step two: pay attention to the response to that prayer.

Did you just ask, “Is anyone listening?”

Yes. But no, you won’t get an email. Or even a text. And if you actually hear voices telling you what to do, get some help. Quick.

What you asked for with that prayer is help to get you from where you are to where you were created to be. Not surprisingly, that help comes from the God who created both you and the place you were meant to be: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (Matthew ). The path that takes us to that promised land is our relationship with God. And that path is paved with prayer.

Prayer is a “conversation,” a very special conversation. Contrary to what our culture teaches, the best part of that conversation is the part where you listen.

In the cool of the evening Adam and Eve strolled with God through a garden in paradise where those conversations flowed perfectly naturally. But Adam and Eve’s Fall changed all that and now the most important conversation of both our mortal and our eternal lives is all too often drowned out amidst the noise and distractions of our broken world.

St. Paul tells us, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians -18). Great advice because much the same as it happens in our lives today, the most important conversations we have are with the people we most trust, the ones who know and understand us best. They are the ones that not only have the best answers to our questions, but love us enough to tell us not what we want to hear, but what we need to hear. And no place is that more true than in our conversations with, in our prayers to God.

A quick reminder about the God we’re discussing. God, the one who created you in his own image is also the one who created the heavens and the earth and then chose to die on the cross rather than spend eternity without you.

Yup, that God.

Maybe you are lucky enough to have a glorious garden where birds sing beautiful symphonies and you can take a quiet walk and talk to him. Or maybe your need to pray will happen in the dark of night when the only sound you can hear is the sobbing of the suffering that is your life. In either case, He is there, always, hands reaching out, waiting for you to turn to him and let him carry your burdens, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“Thine not mine …” It’s one of the many mini-prayers I repeat often, a kind of short hand for a prayer that Jesus, God the Son, prayed to God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus, fully God, as pure and innocent of sin as that implies, was about to suffer perhaps the most horrific death invented by humankind, a Roman crucifixion. Adding insult to injury, He was to suffer that torturous death not for his sins (there weren’t any), but for ours (there are a lot). Jesus, also fully man, knew all of the terror and anguish associated with a crucifixion that any man would: “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). Also not unlike what a mere mortal man might pray, this is what Jesus prayed: “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me …” But his prayer didn’t end there. It continued with “… nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew ). Not as I will, but as you will … thine not mine.

Get what I’m saying now?

It’s really not very complicated; trust and pray.

Trust … trust in the God “who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that all who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Trust that He is the God who already knows what you have to confess; trust that He is the God who has already paid the price for all our sins with his blood; trust that He is the God who died that we all might live.

Trust that He is the God who is listening.

Pray … talk to him. Vent your frustration and fear, ask for the forgiveness—not deserved yet freely given to us—and give thanks for his suffering—not deserved yet freely endured for us. Talk about anything you want, but talk to him. And listen.

Trust. Pray. And listen. It’s not so hard to remember.

I have other mini-prayers that I say multiple times a day. One is “Make abundantly clear my path.” I pray that one because I need his help to keep me on that narrow path to salvation. Another is “Grant by your mercy that I might be better the man that you created me to be.” That one is kind of asking the same thing, but it reminds me that my life here on this earth, my purpose—just like your purpose—is not about what I get; it’s about what we give.

I suppose I could pray for things like fame and fortune and even peace on earth, but the truth is, I am sure I don’t know any better than Adam and Eve did about what is best for me, or best for you, or best for the world.

But He does.

What I do know is that He loves me. And you. So all I really want from him is to make clear exactly whatever He wants from me, from us: “Thine, not mine …”

Feel free to use that prayer anytime you want. And don’t worry, you can trust that He’ll know exactly what you are asking.