
The CRAWFORD STAND podcast
290 episodes — Page 4 of 6
Ep 140The Grand Old Party - GOP
It once was grand; this old party was. But that was once upon a time. It once won elections. It had, for the most part, the respect of the American people. It authored a political alternative, often in sharp contrast on the issues of our time to the Democrat party. Its platform was basic, well-written, clear in its purposes and objectives. Its candidates were viable, reasonably trustworthy, men and women of their word. But, above all, they were Americans, true constitutional Americans, true rule-of-law Americans, concerned with the safety, well-being, preservation and growth of our country. But today, it sadly seems that the republican party is a mere shadow of its former self. The republican party is a party in disarray. It is divided, a party with any number of factions, points of view and it does not have intellectual, moral and political consistency and unity. This once grand old party, the GOP is made up of politicians, House and Senate, far right in their thinking, libertarians, moderates, centrists, and above all RINOs. There are far too many men and women who hypocritically pretend to be republican in thought and action when in fact, they are anything but. They seem, these republican politicians, all too ready to get along with the so-called loyal opposition, to cooperate with them and most importantly in a way disastrous to the party and to WE THE PEOPLE, they are ready, so it seems to: COMPROMISE with the opposition. Republicans appear at time to be negative, reactionary, defensive rather than proactive, aggressive, standing and working for the principles for which they were elected. Today, republicans are dominated as a party by the influence of Donald Trump. As President from 2016 to 2020, Trump did many good things for America. For the most part, whatever he truly believed, he championed conservative values, his decision making was largely done with a conservative bent, and he upheld the constitution and the rule of law. He was the real leader of the party at that time. BUT NOT NOW. This once reasonably good president has become critical, negative, shrill, aggressive, attacking opponents, belittling men and women who are more republican than he is, portraying an image to the American public that he is all about himself, even appearing selfish, elitist and in so many ways anything but a leader, especially a leader of the republican party. Many believe that it is time for him to move aside and turn over the leadership, the public face of the republican party to others, younger, more truly conservative, with the real concern for the protection of our constitution, and especially our first amendment freedoms, five of them, true republicans who will revive and reenergize the republican party and make it once again what it once was. Trump, with a large ego and ever growing, infected with Potomac Fever, smitten by the power, image and authority-control of the federal government can never give up his loss for power and his return to the White House. Many believe the republican party will never, ever be what it should be if it remains under the control, influence and dominance of Donald J. Trump. It seems as though time and again the republican party either deceives or thoroughly disappoints the American people. In elections 2022, many predicted a massive RED WAVE. That is smashing republican victories in elections for House and Senate. That did not happen. The Red Wave predicted turned into, as one pundit called it, the RED TRICKLE. The republicans, expected to take a large majority of the House of Representatives achieved a bare majority, so it seems. Certain senate races remain undecided and the results of those will determine which party controls the Senate. The GOP has had so many wonderful opportunities but so little results to show. It is a major disappointment in so many ways. Its candidates for election are often, as one called them “Hapless”. Some have little or no political experience or reputation (credibility) like Dr. Oz running for Senate in Pennsylvania. Some have flawed character, little or no political experience and fail to gain the respect of the American voter. Even when a top-of-the-line candidate, politician and governor of the great State of Florida Ron DeSantis dominates elections in the state of Florida and becomes nationally known and respected, his own party, including and especially Donald Trump, fail to embrace him, criticize him, and show the divisions, the ruptures, the factions within the republican party. It is so sad to see that this once great and grand old party knows well the pathway to internal destruction and shows itself to the American people as a: HOUSE DIVIDED WHICH CANNOT POLITICALLY STAND! The republican party has no true leadership. Those in power and authority like Senator McConnell from Kentucky and Representative McCarthy from Maryland have shown themselves ineffectual. They seem unable to unite the various factions and individuals elected by the people
Ep 139Thanksgiving
We the people so privileged to live in America have so much to be thankful for. God has allowed us to live in the greatest nation in human history, in my opinion. How grateful we should be. Thanks be unto God for His incredible gifts to mankind. There are so many things to be thankful for. And we should approach this wonderful time of year with gratitude and Thanksgiving Day, and Thanksgiving week, and in fact all year long, we should: GIVE THANKSAnd you are thankful are you not my fellow Americans, for so much, so much that you have, so many opportunities that you have and the life which God has given you to lead. You are thankful and grateful, are you not? Our forefathers, as they established America one-of-a-kind, the pilgrims and others, did exactly that: THEY GAVE THANKS OVER AND AGAIN Those who came first to America brought with them a deeply rooted sense of gratitude for all good things. They were grateful to God for everything, the Great Giver of all things. They thanked their God with works and prayers. And they set aside a day in the fall, after harvest to be especially thankful for all that God’s earth had bestowed. They set aside Thanksgiving Day to be grateful and to celebrate. The harvest reaped assured them of survival and prosperity during the harsh winter to come and they were grateful. The earth gave and they harvested. The earth bestowed the bounty of God and they reaped the harvest, with gratitude and with thanksgiving. Even as they, the first ones here, thanked the God Creator for these unspeakable, incredible gifts, so should we. So, amidst the fun and fellowship of the Thanksgiving Day and week, we should set aside time to be grateful. We should tell others of our gratitude and in a world so often negative and spiteful, let our attitude be positive and think on those things which are good, for there are so many of them. When households and humans the world over die every day, we should be grateful for life, for living, for the lifestyle we enjoy. Opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is everywhere, thanks be to God. We can start by serving HIM, and others. We can work and be productive. We can learn and train. We can earn, and profit, and grow, grow personally and professionally in so many ways. And we can do that every day, EVERY DAY, and especially this day which the Lord hath made. Thanks be to God for opportunity, for the freedom which creates that opportunity. So we celebrate life and we who are pro–life pray that there may be no abortion. That life, man and woman, and family will be governed by Biblical principles. That the elderly will be loved and live as long as possible. That we will educate, train up our young in the right ways so that when they are mature, they will take responsibility for our great country, protect the American way and revive us again with a deep sense of morality. How thankful so many of us would be for such a revival, the revival of love and respect for our Lord and for our great country. We should help them learn the lessons of grateful hearts. And surely, we should be grateful for family and friends, should we not? Those closest to us may be the least appreciated. We should share our love with them and tell them our feelings. We should thank them, love them for all that they do and all that they are. There are those who do so much, give so much to us without thanks. Like a loving spouse. And our children, spreading their love and joy. And for our friends, ready in our time of need, sharing life with us and making it better. We should not only be thankful for all of them, but tell them so, and share the love we feel for them. So that we honor our Lord at Thanksgiving not only with love for HIM, but others as well, our neighbors, even as we love ourselves. If you were to see them, be with them perhaps for the last time, what would you say? Thanksgiving gives you the opportunity to say it. And surely we are thankful for our freedoms, are we not? For our great Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our Declaration of Independence, our Rule of Law at work and the freedom we enjoy to pursue life, liberty and happiness as we choose. No one, no entity, no government can tell us what to do. We can define our own happiness and pursue it as we wish. We can feel the joy of living as we wish and perhaps as much as anything at this special time, we should be thankful, THANKFUL for this. And, surely Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to CELEBRATE, and joyfully so.Most of us can enjoy wonderful food, and the aromas of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. How good it would be if we could make certain that others less fortunate could enjoy what we enjoy as well. We should be grateful Thanksgiving Day, and week and all year long for the food of the harvest we enjoy as our forefathers did. Even as we partake in the fellowship of family and friends, and the fun and good times of the day, and of course for so many the football, as we eat the bread of th
Ep 138Veterans
WOULD YOU DIE FOR YOUR COUNTRY? Would you be willing to give your life to protect and defend the lifestyle, the freedoms, the benefits you enjoy as an American citizen, would you? I wonder sometimes whether that day is coming when WE THE PEOPLE will have to put our all on the altar of DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM to protect and defend this one – of – a – kind country. Many think that day may not be far off. There were American men and women by millions who were willing to die in defense of the America they loved. And in fact, millions did. So I ask again, would you die in defense of America your freedoms like millions of Americans have done for you and for me, and like thousands of Ukrainians are doing this very day to protect their freedoms and their way of life, would you, would I? Anyone who was so willing is special, very special. Obviously, they love America deeply. They believe in and champion FREEDOM the world over. They are against tyrants like Putin, like Hitler, like Mussolini, like the Chinese communist government today, like Islamic Iran and the clerical rule that exists and they are willing to put their lives at stake to put an end to anyone or anything like that. There was once THE GREAT WAR, World War I, it ended officially November 11, 1918. An armistice occurred. Then President Woodrow Wilson, so blessed by that ending declared the date of the armistice November 11, 1919 as officially Armistice Day. That day was set aside to honor the heroism of all those brave Veterans who fought and died, and survived that horrible war. In 1938, Congress made the 11th of November of every year a legal holiday in honor of those heroic Veterans. Armistice Day was official. It originally only honored those Veterans of the first World War. In 1954, November 11 became a legal holiday to honor American Veterans of ALL WARS. Then President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a Presidential proclamation asking for an even requiring a wide spread observation of the day in honor of America’s finest, THE VETERANS OF ALL WARS. November 11 of every year became the legal holiday in America for all Americans to honor Americans past who both served and died to protect the freedoms of this great country. We owe them. WE THE PEOPLE have a never-ending debt, a patriotic debt to those American heroes. 1.1 million patriots died defending America and ridding the world of Adolph Hitler. Even more died in the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and we owe them observants and gratitude. Those Veterans gave much of their lives or all of it in service of America and for you and for me. We owe them, those heroes. For them, what they did in war was something more than duty. It was the highest form of patriotism, the deepest love for America. They cherished the freedoms, the lifestyle and the democracy so many of us take for granted today. They endured sacrifice, a kind of warfare which doesn’t even exist today. So many of these Veterans were wounded, maimed, handicapped for life. Many of our beloved Veterans, men and women suffered the pain of warfare for America every single day they live. We owe them! By the way, when you see a member of the armed forces, do you salute them, do you thank them, do you honor them? Those Veterans of foreign wars indeed had higher standards, patriotic standards. The Stars and Stripes, the precious flag of America was sacred for them. Those Veterans honored and respected that flag and all that it represented. Today, there are tens of thousands who disrespect the flag, dishonor America and care nothing for those who made it possible for them to disrespect the country which has been so good to them. How tragic that is. They can hardly be considered citizens of the United States of America. They are destructive, hateful, disrespectful and without an ounce of gratitude for those who sacrificed so much for this great country. Today, patriotism is on the wane, big time. Holidays, like Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Labor Day and more are simply viewed as a day off from work, a day set aside to party, have fun engage in sports but in so many ways by so many, those days mean little or nothing to so many who take freedom for granted. Former President Thomas Jefferson rightly stated that: THE TREE OF LIBERTY NEEDS THE FRESH BLOOD OF PATRIOTISM SHED FROM TIME TO TIME Our Veterans believed that and millions did in fact shed their blood as incredible patriots so that freedom might live, and prosper, and we the beneficiaries along with it. I for one, older American citizen am deeply, deeply grateful to any man or woman who has served this country in time of war or otherwise for that matter and I salute them where ever I can. NO ONE RESPECTS A VETERAN OR HONORS VETERANS DAY more than I do. Those Veterans loved America, love this country deeply. SO DO I! and I do hope and pray that you do as well for there is only one America and if what America is, is lost because of apathy, indifference, negligence or down right sabotage, America like fre
Ep 137The Vote - Before and After
Every two years the very same thing is said when Americans vote: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT VOTE IN AMERICAN HISTORY! They, all of them whoever they are, are right. It is in many ways the most important, fundamental vote Federal, State and Local America has ever had. It seems as though Americans are mobilized, ready for action, ready to vote now more than ever. So many Americans who perhaps never took voting seriously, or may have never even voted now fully intend to vote this November 8. In fact, many are so motivated they will vote early, by absentee ballot or in person or any other legitimate way, legal way to make their political voice heard. I hope and pray you are one of them. The majority of Americans are Conservative. The majority are people of faith. The majority believe in traditional America. They are constitutionalists. They believe in law and order. And secure borders. They are against any and all voting irregularities. They believe in traditional education, THE THREE Rs: READING – WRITING – RITHMATIC, in classical education, in American history among many others. They believe in Freedoms, especially the five basic Freedoms in the First Amendment. But surprisingly, many of these Conservative, often Christian, Protestant or Catholic, and people of other faiths, so many of them never bother to vote. Incredible indeed, and tragic, tragic for the real America. Many believe as I do that voting is a duty, a duty which is an essential part of American citizenship. It really is the duty of every American to vote, especially when critical issues for GOD AND COUNTRY are at stake. Like never before, there are those, so many of them, who would wish the end of democracy, and if not the destruction of America, then at least total and radical change in government, whether socialistic, or even communistic at the extreme, or eventually, something close to dictatorship, one party – one man rule. For some reason, far too many Americans do not take that seriously even though they absolutely should. So many Christians for example talk and pray but do nothing. They are not people of POLITICAL SECULAR ACTION. But they should be. So many Christians believe that God put them, and all of us believers in America, made us American citizens and charged us with the responsibility – duty of energizing, protecting, preserving this great country, its freedoms and democracy. Every American citizen enjoys the benefits of citizenship, the benefits this great country offers. It is little more than a little duty to vote, to understand the issues, the politics and policies, the candidates and to vote accordingly. Those who are elected at the Federal level, the Senate, The House of Representatives and key state elections such as Governor, and local legislatures will determine so many things that WE THE PEOPLE must endure. Critical moral issues, the votes involved or the votes of those who will make decisions will affect Americas approach to abortion, the Gay agenda, Euthanasia, even freedom of religion without constraint and so many more. With all of that at stake, more than ever it is the duty of every Christian to vote. I hope and pray you will take voting seriously. I hope and pray YOU WILL VOTE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8. The real America needs your vote now more than ever. So many think one vote doesn’t matter. How wrong, dead (politically and culturally) wrong that is. EVERY VOTE MATTERS! Your vote is no exception. So many have deep love and passion for spirituality, faith, family but so little when it comes to politics. I pray you will step up, know the issues, vote accordingly and be heard November 8, recognizing: YOUR DUTY TO AMERICA This once great country needs you and your vote now more than ever. Then, it is over Wednesday November 9. Candidates have advertised. They have done everything possible to get your vote and every bit as importantly: YOUR MONEY They have presented themselves as Representatives not Rulers. They promised so much, and they promised to stay in touch with you and me and to make certain they know what we want and what is right for us as American citizens. You can be certain that so many of these candidates, misrepresenting in so many ways along the way, will never fulfill that promise. They got your vote, they got your money and so good bye until the next election. Don’t let that happen. Don’t let them, the newly elected get away with that. HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE! Every two years, the House of Representatives changes. It stays the same, some like Pelossi re-elected pro forma, little or no opposition, remaining in control, in power and in political position. Others are brand new. Seldom does the process change. Washington is Washington, the home of the elite, the BETTER – THEM – US, making decisions which they think are right whether we do or not. They know the only remedies you have are: RECALL, IMPEACH Or practically speaking, no more support or the giving of money. They will do their own thing for two years,
Ep 136The Vote - Republican
Ep 135Freedom - Part 2
So, my fellow Americans and my fellow Christians and in fact all people of faith, you should know by heart, by memory the inalienable rights which the first amendment confers upon you and me as citizens. You should champion those words; you should discuss and educate with those words. For AGAIN, without them and the rights they convey, there is no FREEDOM. There is no DEMOCRACY!You and yours should adopt the motto: “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” No matter, censorship and cancel culture go about their evil, suppression ways. Radicals, anti-Americans never sleep. They are always at work abridging, determined to take power and control and do away with democracy. They apply George Soros’ tactics, destroy what they can, rewrite history, destroy monuments and legacy, and foster ILLIBERALISM wherever possible. They care nothing for the rights of the fourteenth amendment which guarantees all Americans: DUE PROCESS OF LAW EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS These hateful radicals wish to do away or greatly restrict the privileges and immunities of the fourteenth amendment available to every American citizen. They are haters of America and what it stands for and they are determined to change, radically change, America, democratic and freedom-loving America any way they can. Ironically, college and universities are the greatest suppressors of free speech in our culture. They should be bastions of free speech, the free exchange of ideas, any ideas, wrestling with speech of all kinds but so many are exactly the opposite. At the university of California, Berkeley, for example, antisemitism, the epitome of hate speech, exists in virulent form. So much so that UC Berkeley actually created what they termed: JEWISH-FREE ZONES. They fore bad, these university officials did, any pro-Israel speaker at any event. And in fact, went to the extreme of championing a pro-Palestinian group, clear evidence of the hatred of the university of anything Jewish. They were against anything ZIONISM. So much for an environment which has been established, in terms of education, to welcome and discuss diverse points of view. Ironically, the dean of UC Berkeley, Erwin Chemerinsky is JEWISH! This new policy and bylaw will prevent the very dean of the school himself from speaking at any events! This odious, illegal and unconstitutional policy and action by this ultra-liberal university is typical of what is coming, and even now on the way with regard to the suppression of free speech. You and I, my fellow Americans must be ever so vigilant, on the watch for this suppression, for eventually, it will find its way into the churches and into Christian theology. You can count on that. Christians are admonished to fight the fight of faith. The weapons are different. They are not weapons of destruction, or war, but: IDEAS AND BELIEFS. We are, as the apostle Paul so well said, not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not ashamed to preach it, testify to our faith for in fact it is the power of God unto salvation. And it is available, said Paul, to THE JEW FIRST and then to the Gentile. Stand up, my fellow Christians, stand up not with weapons but words! THERE CAN BE NO FREEDOM OF RELIGION WITHOUT FREEDOM OF SPEECH! It would not be necessary to take away freedom of religion if somehow, there is no longer freedom of speech. THE SON OF MAN fought constantly with the pharisees. They were, for him, spiritual enemies. He fought with the power of the gospel WITH WORDS, not actions. He confronted, challenged and convicted not with swords and spears, but the words of the power of the gospel, the truth of almighty God. He called them what they were, vipers, snakes, white as sepulchers, adorned on the outside with nothing on the inside. But words, always words, no harmful or hateful deeds and HE won, Triumph. For his words were the words of truth, ultimate truth and the truth of his words, his preaching and message live vibrantly and passionately today as then. His words were revolutionary, radical for the time. Men and women were, he clearly stated, SINNERS, regarded as hateful at the time and now, today, perhaps even more so. So much so that those who hate religion, Christianity, and the message of the gospel regard HIM and his words as hateful, real hate speech for calling any person a sinner. You can count on more of that, much more of that, in so many ways. Back to the first amendment. These modest collections of inalienable, unchangeable, fundamental words not only guarantee freedom of religion and freedom of speech but also FREEDOM OF PRESS. Print what you want, publish anything you wish. Send it, distribute it, mail it and do it again, and again and over again without any censorship or suppression. NONE! Reprint the Bible, Christian books, pamphlets against abortion, championing the biblical view of all things UNNATURAL, and anything else, ANYTHING. Print it freely so says the constitution. And more from that bl
Ep 134Freedom
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. So say those who believe in the absolute, unadulterated, unabridged rights of the first amendment to the blessed USA constitution. I agree with that wholeheartedly, do you?Today, however, public universities, education in general and even much of America think differently. If I disagree with what you say, I will not only not defend your right to say it, but I will do whatever it takes to STOP YOU FROM SAYING IT! my speech, what I believe is right or nothing at all. END of the first amendment, END of free speech, END of the first amendment of the constitution: END OF FREEDOM!END OF DEMOCRACY!Founding fathers wrote the constitution. They did so in 1776 as representatives of WE THE PEOPLE. There objective was to “form a more perfect union.” They authored this document to ESTABLISH JUSTICE, justice for all. The constitution of the United States was written for the purpose of:SECURING THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY!It was a marvelous document, brilliantly written by founding fathers who were determined to articulate the concepts of LIBERTY AND FREEDOM and provide for the beginning of a nation never before seen in the history of humankind. The basic document was formed, agreed upon by the greatest minds of the day, but in some ways lacking and incomplete. Then came necessary additions to that constitution in the form of AMENDMENTS. There were ten, the first ten which are collectively known as the:BILL OF RIGHTSAbsolute rights, inalienable rights, God – given rights, fundamental, basic never to be changed, modified or abridged and never, EVER to be eliminated. NEVER!They were born, all ten of them, and ratified in the year 1791. They became part of, these ten amendments, and absolutely fundamental to the body of the constitution itself. The first and most important amendment, AMENDMENT 1 contained some of the finest, most basic and necessary words ever written by mankind. You should know those words, my fellow Americans, you should know the first amendment to the constitution of the United States of America BY MEMORY. They are absolutely critical to the TREE OF LIBERTY as Thomas Jefferson so well said. For, without the first amendment and its freedoms, THERE IS NO FREEDOM! There is no democracy. There are no individual rights which matter without the five inalienable rights absolutely and unconditionally guaranteed by the first amendment to the constitution of the United States. Those incredible words of freedom should be etched in the minds and hearts of every American citizen, every young person, taught, explained and discussed in all of education at all times. For without those inalienable first amendment rights: THERE IS NO FREEDOMTHERE IS NO DEMOCRACYThey contained those words did, an absolute restriction, a direct and unequivocal prohibition on the Congress, House and Senate, of the United States. The clear and unequivocal words of the first amendment forbad Congress from making any law (CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW) respecting an establishment of religion of prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The rule of law, the prohibition of the first amendment made absolutely certain that there would never be a congressionally determined national religion. Congress was forbidden to establish, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, any type of religion or any part thereof. Religion of any kind was the province of the citizens of the then 13 states and now 50. But more, Congress, even more when it comes to religion. You, Congress, said the clear words of the first amendment cannot prevent, you cannot PROHIBIT in any way the free exercise of religion. Real religion can be practiced in any way, no matter what it is by the citizens of the United States of America (13) and Congress can never, ever, EVER prohibit in any way:THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF!No matter those clear, unequivocal words and admonitions, the federal government and the CDC (CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL) shut down the churches in violation of that first amendment when COVID came. It was, many thought, a direct illegal, unlawful and dictatorial violation of the constitution. Many Pastors and religious leaders passionately disagreed with such a governmental order. One such first amendment champion was Pastor John MacArthur in the Los Angeles area, Southern California who kept open his church for worship and as a result, engaged in litigation with the federal government. That Pastor not only obeyed the WORD OF GOD, but championed the unconditional, unabridged and unalienable guaranteed rights of the first amendment with regard to religion and the practice thereof, including the right of assembly. MacArthur was the champion, the leader, the model in the fight for freedom the country over. FREEDOM OF RELIGION WAS THE FIRST AND INALIENABLE RIGHT OF EVERY CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, the first and most important! For without freedom of religion, THERE ARE NO FREEDOMS! Rememb
Ep 133Progressive Christianity
“The Ultimate danger is that progressive Christianity can send a person to hell.”Those were the words of Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.If there ever was an oxymoron, the term progressive Christianity is the ultimate. CHRISTIANITY IS CHRISTIANITY. It is what it is, means what it says, cannot be reinterpreted or interpreted away. Christianity is a belief system, with standards and values which one accepts or rejects. It cannot be “cherry-picked”, one cannot take some and leave others. CHRISTIANITY IS ALL OR NOTHING! But, it is indeed progressive, radical, revolutionary, life-changing, even radical in terms of faith, hope and love. Mankind in its infinite wisdom cannot make it better, soften, as one so-called progressive, woke thinker said the “hard edges of Christianity” to make it easier, more adaptable to current culture and broader in terms of inclusion. In fact, Christianity is exclusive, excluding what it clearly terms “sinners” and non-believers and rather than a broad gate and lane of welcoming: Straight and narrow is the way.And there is only one way and that is absolute faith and commitment to the God of the Bible and all out commitment to Jesus Christ.There is, says writer Michael Brown, now in current culture, the so-called gay rights revolution. That movement sought to normalize same-sex relationships, completely expand, even change the definition of, morality, and fashioned today the category of LGBTQ(IA)+ with even more to come. No matter that up to the late 20th century, when major Christian denominations believed and taught that same-sex relationships and marriage were wrong and according to the Bible “sinful”, LGBTQ fought for complete change in sexual and moral behavior, a movement in the forefront of today’s culture where “anything goes”. To disagree with anything gay at work was to champion HATE, flagrant discrimination the movement said and it determined at every turn to silence or punish those who exercised freedom of speech and spoke out against the new moral revolution and lifestyle in favor of the old biblical standards of morality. Today, it seems that so many Christians, Jews, and even Muslims, the sacred writings of each condemning such a lifestyle, are silenced, intimidated and refused to speak out. Even though LGBTQ is a small minority of the population, it has become loud, vocal, even championed by high tech, digital (Facebook and Comcast among others) and it has clout far beyond its representation. In some cases, it demands inclusion in the Christian church, even though the lifestyle is condemned. This progressive approach, the widening of the road, the narrow road which leads to salvation, is an objective which would include far more and broaden beyond scripture the doctrine of salvation. It is said by Lutzer, the essential goodness and understanding of human nature today as something equally important to determining salvation and morality as the requirements and demands of scripture itself. Man over God or at least co-equal with God, in terms of truth and interpretation. Franklin Graham is right. This so-called progressive Christianity can lead a believer therein “straight to hell”.We should today expect that my fellow Christian, the apostle Paul warned us in2 Timothy 4 that: “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth.”Surely you know, as I do, that is exactly what is happening today. The Bible is old, crusty, musty, written for ancient times, out of touch, UNWOKE, greatly in need of reinterpretation and modernization so as to be acceptable by all human kind in this radical PROGRESSIVE culture. NOT ME AND MINE. As for my house, my family, my company, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD OF THE BIBLE! What about you?Progressive Christianity denies the concept of original sin. Humankind they say is innately good, born good. Wrong according to the Bible.The new woke Christianity simply does not believe in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, the blood. There is no need for the unnecessary and mythological doctrine of salvation. The cross of Christ and the blood are totally unnecessary.Progressive Christianity denies the existence of hell. Woke Christianity expands the doctrine of marriage to include almost anything. The movement centers around a global attempt to effectuate so-called UNIVERSAL SALVATION. It champions social justice far more so than any doctrine of individual or personal salvation.It rejects the concept of sin and the need for redemption. It just seems amazing that these radical, woke, progressive individuals would even bother with Christianity. Why not be totally honest, progressives, and deny anything and everything Christian.Be not deceived, progressives. GOD IS NOT MOCKED. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I WILL REPAY. Perhaps it is the ultimate sin (unforgiveable?), the
Ep 132Pastors Burnout
A staggering 42% of Pastors have considered quitting full – time ministry. That is a result of a recent study conducted and reported by Jon Brown of Fox News.That study quoted one Pastor Ferguson who previously served in ministry but now resigned, who said:“There is no doubt rates of clerical burnout are increasing”The Pastor at pastorate has always presented pressures potentially detrimental to relationships and mental health said Ferguson. But these cultural rifts have deepened in recent years because of politics and political issues and the pandemic. These two driving forces have “pressed Pastors to not stay in their lane, which is focusing on our faith and spiritual life. Pastors and Priests are called to ministry for one essential purpose:PREACH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRISTThey are called to minister, teach, encourage, marry and otherwise perform the services God would have. They are not called and they are “out of their lane” to take stands on political issues, or cultural, or economic, the province of someone else. THEY ARE CALLED TO PREACH THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!One Reverend Richard White, Pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Montreat, North Carolina said that he and his staff were overwhelmed with Covid 19 requirements. They did their best to utilize the newly required methodologies of livestreams, cameras, uploading to the church website and other new technical approaches to church services as a result of Covid. But as the pandemic wore on, the church Pastor began to experience a “grinding spirit” and there occurred what Reverend White described as “decision fatigue.” No matter what decision you make, White said, there is a group in the church that is not happy and is local that you are wrong. Bitter decisions over politics and the pandemic have seeped into churches, leading to the growing rates of job and career burnout among Pastors. David Ferguson, now Executive Director of the Great Commandment Network and former Pastor said:“Our faith does not exempt us from anxiety, depression, temptation or Covid.”We live said he in a divided, polarized, politized and hateful world which far too often requires Pastors to take positions on every imaginable topic, many of which are beyond their knowledge or expertise. Rather than the spiritual life of families and individuals growing in the nurture and admonition of the Lord through the ministry of the Pastor, churches are now experiencing division, confrontation and a lack of fellowship. 42% OF PASTORS CAN NOT COPE WITH THIS. As a result, they seriously consider resignation and career change. The Barna Group agrees. A careful and accurate study by the Barna Group found that Pastors identified unbearable stress as the main cause of burnout. 56% said growing stress would prevent them from achieving the spiritual ministry to which they had been called. 43% of Pastors stated loneliness was a main cause of burnout and 38% said that political divisions were extremely difficult negative factors. Most of those Pastors surveyed that these issues and more had taken a serious toll on their families and the pressure was becoming unbearable. Another Pastor stated that members of his congregation resigned such membership in the church because the church required congregants to wear masks while another church had members leave because the church did not require the wearing of masks. Another Pastor said that he credited his survival as Pastor to God’s presence, the prayerful encouragement of his staff, his own strengthen and renewed prayer life, and the vocal and continued support of his wife and family. That Pastor said he was often pressed beyond his own strength and forced to “press into the Lord” to sustain himself. What a sad state of affairs. It seems as though far too many in today’s congregations are far too demanding, selfish, egocentric to the point where spiritual issues and matters are taking a back seat to the political and cultural issues of the day.Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, a Roman Catholic Priest of the Diocese of Syracuse New York, also a licensed phycologist indicated that rates of depression and anxiety rose among Catholic Priests during the pandemic. As with Protestant churches, Catholic parishioners also laid demands on their Pastors that prove overly burdensome. Said Rossetti:“People can be very demanding and sometimes they can have expectations that are unrealistic.”Senior Pastor Drake Caudill of a Baptist Church in Carmi, Illinois stated that too often Pastors are expected to perform more like the CEO of a church rather than a spiritual leader. That he said is not biblical. Said Reverend Caudill:“I think the expectation for Pastor (performance) should start from scripture and using what scripture expects from the Pastor.”And in reality, it should not only begin there but end as well no more should be required of any congregation. Covid and the pandemic only increased Pastor problems. The newly required Covid expectations brought about i
Ep 131California
I first went to the great state of California in the year 1957. The first thing I saw after deplaning was:CALIFORNIA IS A STATE OF MIND A fabulous state of mind. A land exciting, gorgeous, naturally beautiful border to border and most importantly a land of opportunity. A land where entrepreneurs could thrive, work was plentiful, a democratic land indeed, truly American in every way where anyone could pursue:THE AMERICAN DREAMHow this once great state has changed, radically changed. It talks of secession, negotiating directly with foreign nations, establishing its own immigration policies in many ways creating benefits for illegals more so than American citizens. California is, says the Wall Street Journal “a leading exporter of progressive policy and businesses.” It has become WOKE in so many ways, radical in so many ways SOCIALISTIC. It drives business away. It taxes greedily. It ignores our beloved Constitution in so many ways. California is no longer the epitome of the American dream, THE AMERICAN STATE OF MIND but in fact the leading exporter of progressive policy and businesses. The latest example is legislation which would allow the government to determine and fix fast – food worker wages and micromanage restaurants. This legislation as passed by the California democratic legislature creates a ten member council appointed by the governor and state legislative leaders with virtual CARTE BLANCHE authority to fix wages, benefits and working conditions at most fast – food restaurants. Get ready to eat higher prices and be ready for the inevitable lower business and job opportunities and growth. The California state minimum wage is already among the highest in the United States at $15 per hour. The new socialistic council authorized by the legislation has signaled it may raise the minimum wage to as much as $22 next year! Not only that, but the council could well decide there would be a 3.5% increase in that minimum wage every year thereafter. It has, further, the authority to provide paid vacation or protest days away from work and it could even consider a work week with as few as 32 hours. Fast – food workers would enjoy incredible benefits, favoritism more so than any other class of workers in the once great state of California. The legislation would comprehend some 16,753 franchise locations in California and the effect on small business in the state would be disastrous.Restaurants will almost certainly be forced to raise prices to the extent they can in order to cover higher labor costs. But the end result could be a significant drop in sales since many of the customers of fast – food restaurants simply could not afford any substantially increased food prices. That could force restaurants to reduce work hours or layoff employees. Some in lower income areas may be economically required to close. Those restaurants simply could not pass on these newly increased costs to their customers. Governor Gavin Newsome, radical as they come and a purported democratic candidate for President 2024, does his best to soften the economic blow by telling Californians that the legislation only affects fast – food restaurant chains with 100 or more establishments nationwide. But the incredible economic damage which this new ten member labor council can inflict will in fact extend well beyond fast – food restaurants. Other businesses, including hotels, retail, food delivery services and more which compete with restaurants for workers will be forced to dramatically increase their minimum hourly wage, or cut back on services and refuse to retain or attempt to hire new workers. Their labor costs, along with many other sectors of the economy, dramatically increased will be passed on to their customers, if they can. What a tragedy for California. This legislation and the act of its radical governor is a tragic example of socialism at work, governmental control over private enterprise and a virtual destruction of the economic competitive position of these desirable and even necessary businesses. We will witness even more economical decline, the loss of jobs, and the exodus of more businesses OUT OF THE STATE or shut down as a result of economic necessity. It seems incredible to think that a small, radical minority, democrats by political label, can get such total control, political and economic control over one of America’s largest and most influential states. California seems to have so many inhabitants, citizens legal and illegal who simply vote for a party, protest little, virtually uninvolved in the political process with little understanding and the autocrats in Sacramento do virtually anything they wish, ANYTHING! Edmund Burke reminded us that when good people abandoned the political arena, the bad take over. California, perhaps more than any other state has produced politicians and political decision makers who are increasingly anti – American, anti – Constitution and rule of law more than any other state. We who continue
Ep 130Amazing Israel
YOU WILL BE A BLESSING TO ALL PEOPLES! That was the divine promise to Abraham. Leave your home in Mesopotamia, go where I show you and I will make of you and your seed a great nation. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives Sarah, Rebecca and Rachael were the chosen of Jehovah, the great I AM were the ancestors of the Jews and those responsible for the founding of the great nation of Israel. THEY WERE THE BEGINNING OF THE BLESSING!Anti–Semitism is brutal, vicious and never–ending. Asians can be persecuted, discriminated against and mankind rises up. And the same with Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos and each time, mankind rises up, defends and vilifies the alleged discriminators. But it seems that when it comes to the Jews and anti–Semitism, mankind is slow to care or be concerned, much less rise up in defense. The persecution seems rampant, on college campuses, in local politics, even in Congress itself at times. It is a mystery to right–thinking individuals WHY that happens, where this prejudice even hatred comes from. But it is there, real and ugly. Those who hate and discriminate against the Jews will feel the curse of the great God Jehovah, the great I AM. That doesn’t seem to matter at all. It is further made difficult to understand, this anti–Semitism because the nation of Israel is one of the world’s most technically advanced, medically involved, humanitarian at heart, and philanthropic and charitable in its activities. In the Negev Desert, at one time little more than sand, there now exists the incredible Ben–Gurion University (BGU). That is one of the greatest sources of medical achievement and advancement in the entire world. It is founded and operated by Jews, Israelis who are determined to make the world a better place (Tikkun Olam) one person at a time. BGU houses one of the world’s most advanced medical schools.Their mission statement states as follows:To train humane, holistic, ethical and skilled physicians. 700 brilliant world–changing physicians are trained by BGU every year. The underserved Negev inhabitance consisting primarily of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Ethiopia, India and even Arab lands reap the benefits of this marvelous medical institution. And so does the world!The list of discoveries and medical achievements at this incredible university is absolutely astounding. These brilliant doctors are transforming medicine as we know it. Ben–Gurion University (BGU) is working on a medical process which can, get this, accurately predict the onset of an extreme medical event BEFORE it actually happens. They have developed a new wearable helmet which can measure brain activity in order to predict seizures in epileptic patients, for one. Other extreme medical events are also being studied for the very same result. The future of cancer treatment may be starting in the Negev and at BGU as well. Researchers have discovered that peptides and their biological function, controlled, is key to preventing the spread of cancer! What a blessing to mankind that would be (thus saith the Lord). And more. Molecules designed by BGU researchers could someday help to slow the progression of ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, and even ALS for which there has been no cure and other degenerative diseases.BGU researchers have stopped the progression of Type 1 Diabetes in newly–diagnosed children through clinical trials. What an unbelievable benefit for all mankind the treatment, control and eventual elimination of Type 1 Diabetes in children would be. The blessings for all mankind promised by G–d to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are never more evident or now even available than the medical discoveries at Ben–Gurion University. Those are just a mere few of the incredible medical work product and discoveries already perfected at BGU or at work and will someday happen for the blessings of mankind. Think about that, my fellow Americans, the next time you see anti–Semitism at work.Where once only hatred and mistrust existed, Israelis have reached out to Arab nations for cooperation, free trade and social intercourse between the nations. The ABRAHAM ACCORDS have fostered new friendship, cooperation and economic ties between Israel and the UAE (United Arab Emirates), Bahrain, and Morocco with an ever–growing possibility that those same accords will exist with Saudi Arabia. Free trade, friendly access between peoples have now begun to most seriously replace the old Arab–Jew hatreds of the past. The Israelis have made that happen. This little nation is one of the most capable in the entire world when it comes to things military and especially nuclear. It is powerful beyond belief. But the heart and soul of Israel is peace, cooperation and the real humanitarian concern for all. The Abraham Accords are evidence of that. Israel would far rather engage in friendly cooperation rather than nuclear warfare with any nation, including Iran. Unfortunately, at least for now, that will never happen for Iran carries on vicious
Ep 129The Patriot - The Patriot Day
America is the leader of the west.Or at least, it once was.We were born as a marvelous experiment in Democracy, in FREEDOM. We, the 1776ers built our country as THE CITY ON THE HILL, the bright, shining beacon welcoming all to enjoy these precious freedoms with the Pledge of Allegiance to protect, preserve and defend our precious constitution and our way of life. We were built as a nation, one nation, indivisible, UNDER GOD with the promise of liberty and justice for all but America 2021 is nothing more then divided, deeply divided. We the people are polarized in virtually every aspect of our lives and our society. Instead of UNITED WE STAND, our motto should be divided to the core. We are anything but one nation.We are weakened in virtually every aspect of our society. Our economy. Where the dollar once used to be the measure of financial stability, it is no longer. We pile debt upon debt and print money for anything and everything. Our military is nowhere near as strong, threatened as we are by China and Russia. We are culturally far different, Judeo – Christian standards mocked and ignored. Religion wanes, faith in the God of the universe, and especially the God of our Lord Jesus Christ crumbles daily. We are a house divided, and a house divided:CANNOT STAND!No matter the wars of the world, Continental America was never attacked. That was so until September 11, 2001. Then came Bin Laden and his minions and the World Trade Center twin towers were destroyed, as was much of the Pentagon in Washington D.C. We found it unbelievable for these incredible acts of terrorism had never happened to us before, NEVER. But we rallied. We became almost overnight UNITED, ready to defend, to protect and preserve all that we held dear. Some 4,000 of our fellow citizens perished. We rallied to their cause, their families, their aid and support and our President George W. Bush vowed to bring the killers to justice. There was a feeling of PATRIOTISM which America had not experienced in decades. We were ready to do whatever was required. America was the America it should be, the America of old, the America of 1776. In the midst of this incredible disaster, the 9/11 massacres, America was: PATRIOTICALLY BORN AGAIN But that renewed Patriotism did not last long. It gave way to partisanship, ideological differences, deep societal divisions and rather than the patriotic love for country, an ever growing hatred for so much of what America stood for. There came about a more active socialism, something to replace democracy. Marxism reared its ugly head again. China and Russia emerged as ever growing threats to America, more each year in the past two decades. Iran and other terrorist African and Middle East nations flexed their aggressive muscles. Terrorism spread virtually everywhere. The world seemed never to have been more unsafe. There were wars and rumors of wars. America fought such wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and it seemed as though the world we knew in the year 2000 was now dramatically changed. At least America was.But, who are we my fellow Americans? What kind of people are we and what kind of society, civilization and political orientation do we have. What is America today? And how shall we live, HOW? I wonder if we are the descendants the people of 1776 who fought and gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. I wonder whether we are freedom fighters, willing to fight with our lives for our freedoms.I wonder what we really believe, what are our real priorities. I wonder what kind of government we want to have and how active and aggressive we will be in participating in that government. I wonder whether or not our Judeo – Christian values, the moral principles upon which this country was built, will endure and how meaningful they are. Is it not time, with the lessons of 9/11, of Patriot day in mind to ask straight forwardly:WHO ARE WE?We were leaders of the world, world watch dog empower. We were proud to be Americans and citizens the world over respected our country and WE THE PEOPLE. We honored our commitments, our WORD but today, America lives in the error of POST TRUTH where the lie abounds. We can no longer be trusted. We have abandoned Afghanistan and for the most part Iraq, military endeavors we undertook after 9/11. We have left thousands to die as terrorism spreads and rules. It is in many ways embarrassing to be an American for so many. How good it would be for our country if that born again Patriotism were to be revived an become once again our way of life. If only Patriot day could awaken once again the spirit of Patriotism, love of Constitution, and an even deeper love of freedom, all of the freedoms we enjoy. A young American saved hundreds of lives when he and his cohort aboard a plane bent on sabotage and killing said to his fellow passengers:LET’S ROLLHe and they gave their lives as the plane went down, saving hundreds of other lives and perhaps even the very White House of America itself. This man w
Ep 128Labor Day - Work
Work is good. Work is necessary for the fulfillment of every human being. Work is required of every person according to his or her capabilities and talents, so sayeth the Scripture. All of us must work to survive, live, grow and profit and be all that we can be and as God intended us to be.Our very own America was built on hard work, and is in fact itself a work in progress. The progress depends upon us, we the people, how hard we work and how we make things happen. The majority of we the American people are hard workers. And, the harder and the better we work, the better America and all of us are. To be sure, nothing comes easy in this life, nothing. Everything we have or enjoy is the product of hard work by someone, whether you, or me, or someone else. You and I must do our share, accomplish our calling for the very short time we have on this precious earth. Life, said the wisest man of old King Solomon, is but a vapor here today and gone so soon tomorrow. We should make every working day count to the fullest.Pioneers built our country. They were men and women who did little but work hard morning till night. They farmed land never before productive. They raised animals and used them for work and feed. They built houses, and churches, and City Halls. They built roads and bridges. They built autos and trucks. They built hospitals and invented medicines. They designed and manufactured clothing. They created places for entertainment and worship. They built elaborate and majestic campuses for education and things theological. They built laboratories and science centers and they sent us deep into space. They were then and we are now the workers who made America great, America, the most exciting, creative human and social experiment in all of history. You and I should be proud of them and we should be proud to be workers like they were. The more we work, the better we are, caught up, energized and thrilled by the spirit of America, our exceptional opportunity to pursue our dreams and to build our future. America and those who believe in what it stands for are indeed EXCEPTIONAL and we have been blessed by EQUALLY EXCEPTIONAL opportunity. As we work, we should do everything possible to protect and defend the opportunities, lifestyles and freedoms which America offers.How wonderful it is that the talent and ability of every individual God-Made is different, unique. It is marvelous indeed that every single person has talent and gifts which are in fact different. That is true divine diversity. None of us are better at least not in the sight of God, but different only. Each of us has our own special CALLING. So, no matter who you are, YOU are special and it is your right but every bit as importantly your duty to utilize those God-given talents to the fullest. It is your duty to fulfill your calling. So then, we should not be concerned with what others think nor should we judge what we do and how we work by the standards of others. Nor should we be inhibited by their criticism. For we need to know ourselves, be true to that special self and soul which God has created and through prayer and meditation, come to a full recognition of those talents and be the very person God intended that you and I be. We can fail, but we can bounce back. The opportunity for growth and change is still available in America, thank God. Ignore rejection and focus on your calling. So then, my fellow Americans, you may be called to be a mother. Be all that you can be as a mother for the sake of your children and do your God-given calling with all of your might. Or perhaps you are secretary, or babysitter. Perhaps you clean for a living. Recognize all such work as a calling and do your calling with all of your might. Or perhaps you are plumber, electrician, landscaper, restaurant worker. Do your calling with all of your might and as you can, as unto the Lord. Or perhaps you are lawyer, accountant, radio salesperson, financial planner. Do your calling with all of your might. And if you are the President of anything, including the President of our great United States, you perhaps have a calling with higher standards, duties and demands. No one should do a calling better than you WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!So, we work, we produce and as we do, we should expect return which of course includes money and profit. We work for economic growth and benefit, for the fruit of our labors. We follow the biblical prescription that we can expect even with minimum work product the return of that work one for one. Or perhaps, five to one. Or even as Scripture indicates, perhaps as much as ten to one or more as we diligently develop and exploit those talents and capabilities through hard work. The money return from our work, efforts, creativity and initiative is blessed by Scripture. That money return is right, as we become work men and work women worthy of our hire. We plant, as Scripture says, and Mother Nature waters and it is GOD who gives the increase so the Scri
Ep 127The Holy Land
I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS. AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE. AND ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.Those were the words of the great God Jehovah, the great I AM, a warning sent to all peoples for all times in Genesis 12:3. If there is no other reason to care for and bless the people of the promised land Israel and the Jews, and there are many, many more, not falling under the curse of the God of the Universe is certainly the main one. No matter, anti–Semitism continues on. The agent of Satan, Adolf Hitler, slaughtered 6 million Jews, and today, whether Iran or Russia or Turkey, Lebanon, Gaza and other nations and peoples have no problem blaming everything on the Jews and nations like Iran will never rest until as once publicly stated:“Every Jew in Israel is buried at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea”.But God’s chosen people are tough, survivors, smart and brilliant, determined that something like the Holocaust and other acts of violence against the Jews or Israel will not happen again telling a largely Jew–hating world:NEVER AGAIN!Israel will protect itself in every way possible and revenge anti–Semitism fulfilling the promise NEVER AGAIN.No matter, Hezbollah, a brutal terrorist group in Lebanon sponsored by the even more brutal Iran and its Revolutionary Guard Corps hates Israel, is determined to destroy it and it launches mortars, artillery rounds and Katyusha rockets against Israel at random and at will. So do the Palestinians in Gaza which as a result of the committed purpose of the Israelis and IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) NEVER AGAIN, produces constant warfare tension at all times. Nothing pleases Iran more and now with Iran’s medium–range ballistic missile capability and its current rival at the point it can produce nuclear weapons, becomes an unbelievable threat to Israel and God’s chosen people. I can only imagine the curse of Jehovah at work, the revenge of the God of Israel against the Iranians who mock that God, OUR GOD the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and that awful promise of divine curse. Missiles and mortars sent by terrorist groups can threaten Israel any day, any time. Israelis, brilliant technicians, ever developing military and warfare capability, especially defense, produced the famous IRON DOME, an anti–missile system which protects Israel from rocket, missile and artillery attacks most effectively. Israel has also developed what is known as DAVID’S SLING, a longer–range missile protective system to aid the protective capabilities of Iron Dome. Together, these sophisticated military anti–weapons are excellent deterrents and protective devices for the some 7 million inhabitants–citizens of the Jewish nation of Israel.The problem with Iron Dome and David’s Sling, again effective anti–missile systems with the Israel Tamir missile, costs about $50,000 for each anti–missile missile. Sustaining these two effective systems at that cost is simply not sustainable for Israel given the demands of its national budget and its social welfare programs. So, back to the drawing board these brilliant technicians go and they have now invented a third protective system which is named:IRON BEAM.A laser based system which, rather than $50,000 per counterattack, will cost the nation of Israel incredibly:$2.00 FOR EACH INTERCEPTION.$2.00! That lead Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to claim the Iron Beam, the first deployable directed–energy laser weapon, is not only a major advance in defensive technology but a gamechanger as well in the art and strategy of war. So that, depending upon the attack, mortar, missile, or artillery, one of these three great protective systems, IRON DOME, DAVID’S SLING, or IRON BEAM will shoot down and destroy the incoming projectile resulting in even more complete defense of the Holy Land, Israel the apple of God’s eye.Laser–based weapons do have major power requirements. Recycling times between the firings of these sophisticated weapons is considerable and that must be shortened from minutes to seconds in order to be effective. An enemy can launch barrage after barrage of such weapons and overwhelm the systems unless the recycling and reenergizing time is consistent. It is certain that the Israelis know that and are working to make certain that this new system Iron Beam can in fact reenergize itself in the shortest possible time.No matter these three incredible defense systems, Iran, or Russia, or any other anti–Israel nation with nuclear capability, but especially Iran with nuclear weapons can overwhelm and destroy the nation of Israel with an all–out nuclear attack. The counterattack from this brilliant military nation, small as it is, would be absolutely devastating to the attackers and the enemies of Israel. Such an Iranian attack and the counterattack sure to follow would signal nuclear warfare the world over and undoubtedly the end of this world as we know it. Israeli Prime Minister Bennett has promised that, if warfare so indicates,
Ep 126Age - Our Elders
HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER. So says the scripture. It is not a suggestion but a commandment. In today’s Cancel Culture, it is more often ignored than followed, like so many other so–called commandments. The BIBLICAL TEN are far more often ignored than observed. In time’s past, we the children were ordered to respect our elders, and especially our parents. That included doctors, lawyers and above all ministers and pastors. And, for the most part, that respect was also required for our political leaders whether or not we agreed with their political philosophy. It was presumed that the older they got, the better they were, wiser, more mature, deeper in experience, experts in so many things, WISDOM AT WORK. But today, as our culture changes, and so–called millennials take root and now GEN Z, whoever they are, respect for age and the elderly seems to wane if it exists at all. It was always assumed that politicians of all stripes, no matter their politics, were loyal Americans, loving our Country, believing in and taking the oath of allegiance to the greatest Country in the history of mankind, our beloved America. They our leaders were men and women who never shied away from our problems, did their very best to solve them but never with any thought of radical change (the end of democracy and our republic and the institution of socialism or worse) and would work together for good with all others, always with the goal of making America better. But today, that seems to have changed and radically so. There are those who would radically change our Country from its present status of republic with democracy to socialism or even worse. There are elected officials in House and Senate who are a valid socialist (i.e., Bernie Sanders) or perhaps even deep at heart communist sympathizers. There are those in the pulpit who would water down Christianity, prune the Gospel and even eliminate fundamental, basic Christian tenants. There are today those lawyers and judges who have little or no respect for the law, the Constitution, for objectivity and justice. A certain chaos, uncertainty, even fear exists in our Country today because of these subversive forces at work. Respect for our revolution and revolutionaries, our Declaration of Independence, the war of independence and of course our beloved Constitution decreases every day. The younger generation seems to have little respect for American institutions, traditions, and especially history which, with things at work like the 1619 Project, Critical Race Theory and more seek to change or eliminate so much of what was once the backbone, the fundamentals of our beloved America. Age and the maturity and wisdom it supposedly brings not only is not respected, but age seems more so to generate disrespect.That is especially true in Washington D.C. It is so very interesting how so many of our leaders, our elected officials are aging. The New York Post quoted the following:“WASHINGTON’S LEADERS ARE OLD AND VOTERS ARE BEGINNING TO NOTICE.”Begin with President Joe Biden who evidences a growing “apparent cognitive decline”. Hear the quote of the New York Post. Biden:“SHUFFLES ALONG, STRUGGLES TO READ TELEPROMPTERS AND REGULARLY MAKES GAFFES OR UTTERS INCOHERENT SENTENCES, HAS DRAWN SCRUTINY TO WASHINGTON’S CADRE OF AGING LAWMAKERS.”This is the man who, amongst so many other one–man–powers can decide to unleash nuclear warfare and with any such guaranteed reaction, destroy the world. President Joseph Biden will be 80 YEARS OLD IN NOVEMBER. Joe Biden is the oldest person ever elected to the White House and even a growing number of his own Democratic Party do not want him to even consider running for reelection in 2024. More of our federal leaders are even older than Joe Biden. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82 years old. Pelosi has emphatically stated that she intends to run for Congress again in 2022. Nancy Pelosi, who is serving her fourth term as Speaker of the House, pledged privately to her caucus four years ago that she would not run for Democratic Leader (Speaker of the House) again after this year, even though she will seek reelection for a 19th term as congress person from San Francisco. We would assume that Pelosi, with all those years of political experience, and the wisdom of the age of 82 would be a formidable and respectable political leader. In fact in most quarters, and including many in her own Democratic Party, she garners little respect, age notwithstanding.Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel of Kentucky is 80 years old. Many republicans, with perhaps little respect for McConnel hopes he does not run for reelection for another term.Patrick Leahy, the Democrat Senator from Vermont is 82 years old. By the way, Leahy is third in line for the presidency in the event succession to Biden is required. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top republican on the powerful Appropriations Community and a key negotiator on all major spending deals is 88 years old. One can on
Ep 125Age - Our Elders
HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER. So says the scripture. It is not a suggestion but a commandment. In today’s Cancel Culture, it is more often ignored than followed, like so many other so–called commandments. The BIBLICAL TEN are far more often ignored than observed. In time’s past, we the children were ordered to respect our elders, and especially our parents. That included doctors, lawyers and above all ministers and pastors. And, for the most part, that respect was also required for our political leaders whether or not we agreed with their political philosophy. It was presumed that the older they got, the better they were, wiser, more mature, deeper in experience, experts in so many things, WISDOM AT WORK. But today, as our culture changes, and so–called millennials take root and now GEN Z, whoever they are, respect for age and the elderly seems to wane if it exists at all. It was always assumed that politicians of all stripes, no matter their politics, were loyal Americans, loving our Country, believing in and taking the oath of allegiance to the greatest Country in the history of mankind, our beloved America. They our leaders were men and women who never shied away from our problems, did their very best to solve them but never with any thought of radical change (the end of democracy and our republic and the institution of socialism or worse) and would work together for good with all others, always with the goal of making America better. But today, that seems to have changed and radically so. There are those who would radically change our Country from its present status of republic with democracy to socialism or even worse. There are elected officials in House and Senate who are a valid socialist (i.e., Bernie Sanders) or perhaps even deep at heart communist sympathizers. There are those in the pulpit who would water down Christianity, prune the Gospel and even eliminate fundamental, basic Christian tenants. There are today those lawyers and judges who have little or no respect for the law, the Constitution, for objectivity and justice. A certain chaos, uncertainty, even fear exists in our Country today because of these subversive forces at work. Respect for our revolution and revolutionaries, our Declaration of Independence, the war of independence and of course our beloved Constitution decreases every day. The younger generation seems to have little respect for American institutions, traditions, and especially history which, with things at work like the 1619 Project, Critical Race Theory and more seek to change or eliminate so much of what was once the backbone, the fundamentals of our beloved America. Age and the maturity and wisdom it supposedly brings not only is not respected, but age seems more so to generate disrespect.That is especially true in Washington D.C. It is so very interesting how so many of our leaders, our elected officials are aging. The New York Post quoted the following:“WASHINGTON’S LEADERS ARE OLD AND VOTERS ARE BEGINNING TO NOTICE.”Begin with President Joe Biden who evidences a growing “apparent cognitive decline”. Hear the quote of the New York Post. Biden:“SHUFFLES ALONG, STRUGGLES TO READ TELEPROMPTERS AND REGULARLY MAKES GAFFES OR UTTERS INCOHERENT SENTENCES, HAS DRAWN SCRUTINY TO WASHINGTON’S CADRE OF AGING LAWMAKERS.”This is the man who, amongst so many other one–man–powers can decide to unleash nuclear warfare and with any such guaranteed reaction, destroy the world. President Joseph Biden will be 80 YEARS OLD IN NOVEMBER. Joe Biden is the oldest person ever elected to the White House and even a growing number of his own Democratic Party do not want him to even consider running for reelection in 2024. More of our federal leaders are even older than Joe Biden. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 82 years old. Pelosi has emphatically stated that she intends to run for Congress again in 2022. Nancy Pelosi, who is serving her fourth term as Speaker of the House, pledged privately to her caucus four years ago that she would not run for Democratic Leader (Speaker of the House) again after this year, even though she will seek reelection for a 19th term as congress person from San Francisco. We would assume that Pelosi, with all those years of political experience, and the wisdom of the age of 82 would be a formidable and respectable political leader. In fact in most quarters, and including many in her own Democratic Party, she garners little respect, age notwithstanding.Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel of Kentucky is 80 years old. Many republicans, with perhaps little respect for McConnel hopes he does not run for reelection for another term.Patrick Leahy, the Democrat Senator from Vermont is 82 years old. By the way, Leahy is third in line for the presidency in the event succession to Biden is required. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top republican on the powerful Appropriations Community and a key negotiator on all major spending deals is 88 years old. One can on
Ep 124The New Anti-American Woke Culture - Part 2
It is, woke culture is, anti–American. It is also very passionately anti–Christian. One such awakened member of the woke culture said most bluntly:“I hate Christianity as much as I hate America.”Why was never made clear. Wok–ers don’t need reason for their hateful conclusions.They want the history of our great Country gone. They have destroyed monuments. They have introduced Critical Race Theory (CRT) which rewrites history. They are determined to train up children, new generations of young learners, in the WOKE WAY, and reading, writing and arithmetic, and history as we know it be damned. They constantly find ways to mock and disrespect our Founding Fathers, those who bled and died for this Country early on, fought for the freedoms WE THE PEOPLE now do little but take for granted. They are determined to destroy, eliminate or at least erode and water down our great Constitution. They care little for the RULE OF LAW unless it is for their benefit. They will do what they want to get what they want. They see racism as systemic, sexism and anti–LGBTQ attitudes and beliefs as fundamental and essentially not changeable, the Country economically imbalanced and unfair to minorities, they foster socialism or worse, even communism. But the bottom line is that these new progressives, radicals, socialists and revolutionaries, having found safe harbor in the Democratic Party are determined in the words of George Soros, the world’s most evil man, to:BRING DOWN AMERICA!Destroy it in the words of the radical Saul Alinsky no matter what happens. America has always been a land which has honored, respected and protected the essential right of mankind:FREEDOM OF RELIGION.Progressives see America as a Christian nation and they are determined to destroy Christianity at the same time as they destroy America. They will use any means possible to accomplish that end. That includes violence wherever necessary. They wish to take control of government, institutions, legislatures and especially the courts. They wish to exercise complete power and rid the Country of any vestige of Christianity and for that matter, all things Judeo–Christian, other religions to follow. They want power, complete power. And, they are prepared to use the lie, destroy facts, say and do anything which will advance their cause. They do not believe that the vast majority of Americans who are decent, Christian, law–abiding citizens will fight back or for that matter, resist in any aggressive way. They know they can win because they will do anything to win. They can and will use any weapon necessary knowing that very few will fight back, believing that Christians will not fight the fight of faith at least with arms and counter–violence. They think that most Christians and even believers of other faiths would rather “come apart”, and “be separate” rather than fight. That is why they, the destroyers believe–know they can win and can ultimately destroy America. It is happening even now, step by step, mostly subtly, sometimes overtly. But their satanic, demonic, evil agenda goes on every day, EVERY DAY!They are determined to destroy the Constitution. God is in there, part of that, motivating that, the same in the Declaration of Independence. No more God and no more Constitution for them. That is so even though WE THE PEOPLE are a Christian majority, we are Judeo–Christian in the majority. We are PEOPLE OF FAITH, when all faiths are included. Perhaps as much as 75% of our great Country is comprised of citizens who are faithful, who believe in God. But this small minority of radical–progressives firmly believe they can conquer, control and dominate this super–majority. They will not rest, not ever until that vicious, satanic goal is accomplished. They are determined to destroy freedoms of all kinds, and especially Freedom of Religion. They will use the Alinsky, Saul Alinsky method and philosophy of utter destruction. Ironically embraced by Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. Funded by the satanic George Soros, they are intent upon destroying America:BRING AMERICA DOWN!There are specific reasons why they also hate Christianity. Progressives believe the BIBLE is nothing more than mythology. They also condemn the so–called violence of the Old Testament, the just God it reveals and portrays. They mock the fact that Jews and Christians for the most part consider the Bible to be infallible, the word of the living God Jehovah and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They further mock the idea that the Bible is absolute truth and when the Gospels of the New Testament quote the words of Jesus Christ:“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man or woman comes to the Father BUT BY ME.”Those words as HATE SPEECH, disrespectful of other religions and beliefs, and just plain wrong. So much for Christianity. These radicals find OFFENSIVE:THE CROSS.That a death brings about new life, eternal life, and is necessary for salvation, is hateful, exclusionary and of course for all such Alin
Ep 123The New Anti-American Woke Culture
It is, woke culture is, anti–American. It is also very passionately anti–Christian. One such awakened member of the woke culture said most bluntly:“I hate Christianity as much as I hate America.”Why was never made clear. Wok–ers don’t need reason for their hateful conclusions.They want the history of our great Country gone. They have destroyed monuments. They have introduced Critical Race Theory (CRT) which rewrites history. They are determined to train up children, new generations of young learners, in the WOKE WAY, and reading, writing and arithmetic, and history as we know it be damned. They constantly find ways to mock and disrespect our Founding Fathers, those who bled and died for this Country early on, fought for the freedoms WE THE PEOPLE now do little but take for granted. They are determined to destroy, eliminate or at least erode and water down our great Constitution. They care little for the RULE OF LAW unless it is for their benefit. They will do what they want to get what they want. They see racism as systemic, sexism and anti–LGBTQ attitudes and beliefs as fundamental and essentially not changeable, the Country economically imbalanced and unfair to minorities, they foster socialism or worse, even communism. But the bottom line is that these new progressives, radicals, socialists and revolutionaries, having found safe harbor in the Democratic Party are determined in the words of George Soros, the world’s most evil man, to:BRING DOWN AMERICA!Destroy it in the words of the radical Saul Alinsky no matter what happens. America has always been a land which has honored, respected and protected the essential right of mankind:FREEDOM OF RELIGION.Progressives see America as a Christian nation and they are determined to destroy Christianity at the same time as they destroy America. They will use any means possible to accomplish that end. That includes violence wherever necessary. They wish to take control of government, institutions, legislatures and especially the courts. They wish to exercise complete power and rid the Country of any vestige of Christianity and for that matter, all things Judeo–Christian, other religions to follow. They want power, complete power. And, they are prepared to use the lie, destroy facts, say and do anything which will advance their cause. They do not believe that the vast majority of Americans who are decent, Christian, law–abiding citizens will fight back or for that matter, resist in any aggressive way. They know they can win because they will do anything to win. They can and will use any weapon necessary knowing that very few will fight back, believing that Christians will not fight the fight of faith at least with arms and counter–violence. They think that most Christians and even believers of other faiths would rather “come apart”, and “be separate” rather than fight. That is why they, the destroyers believe–know they can win and can ultimately destroy America. It is happening even now, step by step, mostly subtly, sometimes overtly. But their satanic, demonic, evil agenda goes on every day, EVERY DAY!They are determined to destroy the Constitution. God is in there, part of that, motivating that, the same in the Declaration of Independence. No more God and no more Constitution for them. That is so even though WE THE PEOPLE are a Christian majority, we are Judeo–Christian in the majority. We are PEOPLE OF FAITH, when all faiths are included. Perhaps as much as 75% of our great Country is comprised of citizens who are faithful, who believe in God. But this small minority of radical–progressives firmly believe they can conquer, control and dominate this super–majority. They will not rest, not ever until that vicious, satanic goal is accomplished. They are determined to destroy freedoms of all kinds, and especially Freedom of Religion. They will use the Alinsky, Saul Alinsky method and philosophy of utter destruction. Ironically embraced by Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. Funded by the satanic George Soros, they are intent upon destroying America:BRING AMERICA DOWN!There are specific reasons why they also hate Christianity. Progressives believe the BIBLE is nothing more than mythology. They also condemn the so–called violence of the Old Testament, the just God it reveals and portrays. They mock the fact that Jews and Christians for the most part consider the Bible to be infallible, the word of the living God Jehovah and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. They further mock the idea that the Bible is absolute truth and when the Gospels of the New Testament quote the words of Jesus Christ:“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man or woman comes to the Father BUT BY ME.”Those words as HATE SPEECH, disrespectful of other religions and beliefs, and just plain wrong. So much for Christianity. These radicals find OFFENSIVE:THE CROSS.That a death brings about new life, eternal life, and is necessary for salvation, is hateful, exclusionary and of course for all such Alin
Ep 122The Summer of Rage
Roe v. Wade, that infamous case which created out of thin air a constitutional right for abortion, was in fact unconstitutional. As the Wall Street Journal described Roe, it was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1973 which was nothing more than a LEGAL INVENTION. It was politically driven, the legal product of a very liberal Supreme Court under the influence of Chief Justice Warren, the decision in Roe written by Justice Harry Blackmun. Even liberal scholars at the time, scholars who supported abortion, many of them agreed that there was no constitutional basis for the decision in Roe v. Wade (5–4). The current Supreme Court, as we know, has overturned this constitutional disaster and along with it the decision in the Casey case, in the now famous decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case appealed to the Supreme Court by the state of Mississippi. The decision, which had been essentially leaked before formal announcement by the Supreme Court (the preliminary draft of that decision) occurred weeks ago, leaked by a radical progressive whoever he or she may be in order to produce liberal citizen RAGE upon the Supreme Court for the TAKING AWAY of so–called constitutional women’s rights to abortion. It did just that. Liberal rage was everywhere, starting with the illustrious president Joe Biden who told the country that this conservative Supreme Court, the Roberts’ court, was out of control, dangerous, and on a mission to destroy much of the legal liberal gains in the past several decades. Senator Chuck Schumer from New York actually threatened Justice Kavanaugh with harm by telling him that, if he voted for the overturn of Roe, he would, Kavanaugh would:“PAY THE PRICE.”A radical then went on a mission to assassinate Kavanaugh, but of course, Schumer, a democrat, a liberal and even a radical from New York got away with it. The RAGE promised started at the very top of the political process. Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who knows little or nothing about the Constitution, reminded her following that it was time for action. Then came JANE’S REVENGE, a liberal action group which began firebombing pregnancy centers and, the violence was on. Summer has a long way to go, and the violence promised will only increase, even as protection for all nine Supreme Court Justices has and will be increased. Roe v. Wade was justified, rationalized by the Supreme Court 1973 essentially on the basis of the 14th Amendment and the so–called DUE–PROCESS CLAUSE. But there was no rational connection between the result reached (the so–called abortion right) and anything written, expressed or implied in the 14th Amendment. A women’s right to privacy was also used but there is no right to privacy for anyone, male or female, anywhere in the Constitution. It was a legal stretch, a legal invention, a social and cultural decision made by liberal Justices without any firm foundation or basis in the Constitution. It was ripe for a right–thinking constitutionally–minded court, perhaps ORIGINALIST in thinking and belief, to overturn this Constitutional disaster. Dobbs v. Jackson did just that by a vote of 6–3, along political lines, six so–called conservative Justices for overturn and three liberal–radical against it. Let, said Jane’s Revenge and by implication Biden and Schumer, the:SUMMER OF RAGE BEGIN!Abortion is murder. It is the killing of a human–being in vitro, in the womb. It is done intentionally, and maliciously with no concern for the human–being to be utterly destroyed. It is therefore first–degree murder, abortion is, of a live, feeling human–being and there is every justification for the conviction of that killer under first–degree murder charges. But it goes on none–the–less. Many think that Dobbs may put an end to the brutal, satanic practice of abortion. Unfortunately, it will not. Under the excellent system of federalism which our Constitution fully supports, the issue of abortion is now no longer a federal matter but one for the states. Each of the fifty states must deal with the issue of abortion its own way, by the democratic process, the vote at work by the people of the state and laws for or against abortion will be passed by each. It is estimated that some 26 states will eliminate the right to abortion altogether or seriously curtail the practice. BUT, some 24 states will permit abortion in some fashion and that sometime in the nine–month pregnancy period, whether at the very beginning of conception or even up to the point where the baby–human–being is born or about to be born. First–degree murder, and killing will go on in America in at least 24 states. The Founding Fathers sought to limit the power of the federal government. The Constitution clearly protects states rights. In fact, it states in the 10th Amendment and even the 9th Amendment of the Constitution that the powers:NOT SPECIFICALLY ENUMERATEDGranted to the federal government are absolutely reserved to the states and the pe
Ep 121America - The Once Brave and the Once Free
In Revolutionary times, Thomas Paine said the following:“These are the times that try men’s souls”.And indeed these are the times that try women’s souls, some at least now that the United States Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. Thomas Jefferson admonished Americans of his time that the blood of patriots must be shed from time to time in order to refresh the tree of liberty. In short, the constitutional America of 1776 (Declaration of Independence) and the Constitutional America of 1787 needed new patriots, new passion, new commitments to liberty and freedom. Now more than ever that is true. The constitutional, rule of law, freedom–liberty America of old is not only under attack but becomes divided, angry and more violent by the day. Freedom and liberty we have always taken for granted are now all the more at risk and at stake.The patriot Patrick Henry provided a testimony applicable to all of us:“Give me liberty or give me death”.Henry was willing to die for freedom. He would live under no form of bondage. Oppression and bondage in his time was English. Today it comes internally from anarchists, that small virulent, violent minority which wishes the destruction of the greatest country on earth. Our fore fathers fought for freedom. They gave their blood then which we can assume made Jefferson proud. They gave us the greatest ruling document in the history of mankind, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. That incredible document contained the First Amendment which gave every American citizen the following rights and freedoms: Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Freedom of press Freedom of assembly Freedom of petitionGuaranteed, unconditional, unchanging, FOREVER FREEDOMS. Every one of those sacred, inalienable (God–given) rights and freedoms are at risk today, EVERY ONE! We the People seemed to have lost our vision, our understanding, even in some cases our desire to protect and preserve this incredible country. We have become indifferent to the struggles and problems we face. So many of us are ignorant of our history, and our Constitution, and our rule of law, and how we are governed. So many of us have withdrawn from the political process. As few as 10% will vote in some elections and perhaps no more than 60% of eligible, voting Americans will go to the polls in the most serious of elections. It has become tragic how We the People take democracy for granted. It is as though freedom will always be there no matter what we do. We the People are an easy target for violence and anarchism. One of the most anti–American Americans was one Saul Alinsky. In essence, Alinsky championed the destruction of everything, every institution, every tradition, anything and everything in America so that the country could be rebuilt and reestablished. The philosophy and beliefs of Alinksy were adopted by George Soros among others and the state of objective of Soros and others was to:BRING DOWN AMERICA.Bring it down. Destroy it. Rewrite its history. Do away with its Constitution and its rule of law. Get rid of the moral standards of the country today and especially the Judeo–Christian heritage and morality of the past. Do away with it completely! Beneath the violence, disrupt, and the lack of accountability today is this Alinsky model, the destruction of America, the destruction of everything which America holds dear. WOKE better serve to wake up America, defend itself, its values, morality and principles or all will be lost. WAKE UP AMERICANS, WAKE UP. The time may be near when the blood of real patriots will be required once again in America.We the People assume that we live in a democracy. We live by democratic principles, the core of which is freedom. That is true but our government is not a democracy. Our fore fathers who forged our Constitution were suspicious of democracy. They feared an intolerant majority. They created checks and balances which would prevent as much as possible the potentially crushing majority rule. They created for us a REPUBLIC. That of course consisted of a president, senate and house of representatives. It also consisted of an independent federal judiciary with the Supreme Court of essentially nine justices as final arbitrators of the rule of law. Such a republic respected democratic principles but it guarded so very well against abuse.Those founding fathers gave us the concept of federalism. That is, that each of the individual states of America, then 13 and now 50, would be protected, have rights not specifically granted to the federal government (Constitution Amendment X), and otherwise make certain that its people were protected, and larger states would have no real advantage over smaller ones. It was and continues to be a brilliant system and check and balance. The founding fathers gave us an electoral college where leaders were not elected by majority vote but by states according to their population.They gave us the rule of law, they gave us the Declaration of Independence, they g
Ep 120America - The Once Brave and the Once Free
In Revolutionary times, Thomas Paine said the following:“These are the times that try men’s souls”.And indeed these are the times that try women’s souls, some at least now that the United States Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. Thomas Jefferson admonished Americans of his time that the blood of patriots must be shed from time to time in order to refresh the tree of liberty. In short, the constitutional America of 1776 (Declaration of Independence) and the Constitutional America of 1787 needed new patriots, new passion, new commitments to liberty and freedom. Now more than ever that is true. The constitutional, rule of law, freedom–liberty America of old is not only under attack but becomes divided, angry and more violent by the day. Freedom and liberty we have always taken for granted are now all the more at risk and at stake.The patriot Patrick Henry provided a testimony applicable to all of us:“Give me liberty or give me death”.Henry was willing to die for freedom. He would live under no form of bondage. Oppression and bondage in his time was English. Today it comes internally from anarchists, that small virulent, violent minority which wishes the destruction of the greatest country on earth. Our fore fathers fought for freedom. They gave their blood then which we can assume made Jefferson proud. They gave us the greatest ruling document in the history of mankind, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. That incredible document contained the First Amendment which gave every American citizen the following rights and freedoms: Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Freedom of press Freedom of assembly Freedom of petitionGuaranteed, unconditional, unchanging, FOREVER FREEDOMS. Every one of those sacred, inalienable (God–given) rights and freedoms are at risk today, EVERY ONE! We the People seemed to have lost our vision, our understanding, even in some cases our desire to protect and preserve this incredible country. We have become indifferent to the struggles and problems we face. So many of us are ignorant of our history, and our Constitution, and our rule of law, and how we are governed. So many of us have withdrawn from the political process. As few as 10% will vote in some elections and perhaps no more than 60% of eligible, voting Americans will go to the polls in the most serious of elections. It has become tragic how We the People take democracy for granted. It is as though freedom will always be there no matter what we do. We the People are an easy target for violence and anarchism. One of the most anti–American Americans was one Saul Alinsky. In essence, Alinsky championed the destruction of everything, every institution, every tradition, anything and everything in America so that the country could be rebuilt and reestablished. The philosophy and beliefs of Alinksy were adopted by George Soros among others and the state of objective of Soros and others was to:BRING DOWN AMERICA.Bring it down. Destroy it. Rewrite its history. Do away with its Constitution and its rule of law. Get rid of the moral standards of the country today and especially the Judeo–Christian heritage and morality of the past. Do away with it completely! Beneath the violence, disrupt, and the lack of accountability today is this Alinsky model, the destruction of America, the destruction of everything which America holds dear. WOKE better serve to wake up America, defend itself, its values, morality and principles or all will be lost. WAKE UP AMERICANS, WAKE UP. The time may be near when the blood of real patriots will be required once again in America.We the People assume that we live in a democracy. We live by democratic principles, the core of which is freedom. That is true but our government is not a democracy. Our fore fathers who forged our Constitution were suspicious of democracy. They feared an intolerant majority. They created checks and balances which would prevent as much as possible the potentially crushing majority rule. They created for us a REPUBLIC. That of course consisted of a president, senate and house of representatives. It also consisted of an independent federal judiciary with the Supreme Court of essentially nine justices as final arbitrators of the rule of law. Such a republic respected democratic principles but it guarded so very well against abuse.Those founding fathers gave us the concept of federalism. That is, that each of the individual states of America, then 13 and now 50, would be protected, have rights not specifically granted to the federal government (Constitution Amendment X), and otherwise make certain that its people were protected, and larger states would have no real advantage over smaller ones. It was and continues to be a brilliant system and check and balance. The founding fathers gave us an electoral college where leaders were not elected by majority vote but by states according to their population.They gave us the rule of law, they gave us the Declaration of Independence, they g
Ep 119Freedom
FREEDOM!We are, America is, the home, the land of the:BRAVE AND THE FREE.We are lovers of freedom. It is, you could say, in our genes. We inherited that love of freedom from those who founded our great country, fought against the oppressors more than two centuries ago and built the foundation for the FREEDOMS we now enjoy today. Give us, we say with that great statesman and our forefather Patrick Henry, give us that LIBERTY or if that is taken away, give us death for there is no real life without freedom.For us, America is in fact exceptional no matter the indifferent attitude of Barack Hussein Obama who thinks that America is no more exceptional than any other country! But all of America and we the people are exceptional in so many ways, including our way of life and our lifestyle. Everything is okay down to the last sentence and raise and champion our great flag, and wear the American flag pin proudly, especially in the world of academia which thinks the American flag is a symbol for racism and xenophobia rather than exceptionalism.And now, we should take quality time to honor the founding documents which make us great, namely our Constitution, our Bill of Rights and our Declaration of Independence. We should honor these incredible documents by reading them, studying their content, understanding the values therein and resolving as the authors of these documents did, and honor our forefathers who provided them for us recommitting to them and the world at large that we the people will protect and preserve the freedoms contained therein, even to the laying down of our lives.In this day, there are so many who would CHANGE what we have, or even more radically so, eliminate it. There seems to be an ever-growing number of those in our very own country with little or no respect for our great founding documents, our freedoms, the principles by which we have lived and built THE GREAT SOCIETY, and especially what America has been, our glorious history. They the un-Americans wish to eliminate or erode so many of our freedoms and move this great country toward socialism. THEY are the enemy inside and they must be stopped. We the people, true Constitutional Americans energized and emboldened by our founding documents and founding fathers must make certain we do what is right for our great country, and as true patriots, protect and defend our freedoms as never before. We should do everything humanly possible to prevent socialism of any kind in thought or deed.We should remember the words of that great statesman, a founding father himself, Benjamin Franklin, who said, when asked, that he and his fellow revolutionaries have given us, Americans then and now, a Republic. Not a Democracy, but a Republic. Franklin went on to warn us then and now that this Republic was FRAGILE, and needed at all times to be protected with vigilance, vigor and valor. That this Republic of the combined United States could never be taken for granted. Nor could any citizen assume it would go on, and on. For freedom, for Franklin and the fathers, was a precious right that could only be sustained by watchful, involved and proactive citizens. We who would live in this free country and enjoy its immense freedoms must at all times be:WATCHMEN AND WOMEN ON THE WALLSNot talk, debate or discussion, but action, actively working to protect our freedoms and our way of life, willing to die in the fray if necessary. Would you be willing to die, to lay all on the altar in the cause of freedom? What would you do if ISIS or jihadists attacked America and threatened harm to your family and you? What would you do? Our forefathers never gave the matter a second thought. They, in Second Amendment fashion, took up arms to defend their country, their freedoms and their family. Would you? In fact, we AMERICANS should be so proud of our country, and our freedoms, that we as a nation are ready at all times to help others in the cause of freedom. We gave the lives of millions of young American men and women to others in the cause of freedom. Witness World War II. One Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman 83 years young arrived in Paris by airplane. At French customs, it took him several minutes to locate his passport. The Customs Officer with sarcasm and disdain asked Mr. Whiting:“You have been to France before, Monsieur?”Mr. Whiting answered, yes he had and the smart aleck French official replied pompously:“Then you should know enough to have your passport ready!”Mr. Whiting then stared this official in the eye and said the following:“The last time I was here I didn’t have to show my passport.”To which the French Customs Official replied:“Impossible! Americans always have to show passports on arrival in France!”Mr. Whiting gave this arrogant Frenchman a long hard look and he proudly stated:“Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchman to show a passport to!”You could have heard a pin drop. God bl
Ep 118Life
“We live in really scary times”. Those were the words of a person living in western New York, a verbal reaction to the firebombing of the CompassCare pro–life pregnancy center in Buffalo, New York. The firebombing was carried out by a radical, leftist, progressive group JANE’S REVENGE. The terrorists left this writing on the wall:JANE WAS HERE.There of course was no reaction from the left, nothing from Senator Schumer or Speaker of the House Pelosi who shrugged and provided an indifferent response. After all, it was nothing more than a terrorist attack on a pro–life, anti–abortion group with which Pelosi has no caring. The scary times in which we live are marked by one key factor:VIOLENCE.We the People can expect more violence perhaps than ever before in our once great Country. Our freedoms, our Constitution, our way of life, our rule of law, our traditions are under attack as never before, NEVER! The CompassCare bombing was indeed scary. The CEO of CompassCare, Jim Harden, one good man said:“This is the pro–abortion Kristallnacht. Because of this act of violence, the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancy will go unmet and babies will die. I wonder (said Harden) if Governor Hochul will veto the Pregnancy Center Investigation Bill. I wonder if Attorney General Letitia James will investigate these cowardly criminals. CompassCare will rebuild, because women deserve better. CompassCare will not stop because pre–born boys and girls deserve protection.”Well said, and well done, Mr. Harden. We know you will rebuild and rededicate yourself and your good people to the task of saving life, LIFE IN THE WOMB. You and yours, we know, will do everything possible to stop the ABORTION KILLING FIELDS, and protect the precious human life which God himself has created. What a world, scary hardly describes it!There is little respect for law and order in our great Country today. There are citizens, inhabitants, immigrants legal and illegal, especially illegal who care nothing about law and order and are willing to do anything to get what they want. There are those willing to firebomb, destroy and even kill if they disagree. Now comes the decision by the Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson perhaps by the end of this month. The Country over knows about the leak at the Supreme Court, a supreme illegal, criminal act. It is highly likely that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade that case, some 50 years ago was as Justice Samuel Alito so well stated, was decided by:“Reasoning which was exceptionally weak and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”If the Supreme Court does indeed decide to overturn Roe, and again we should know (at or about June 30) the issue of abortion will return to the states where it belongs constitutionally. Instead of one, we would have 50 different decisions about abortion. But our Constitution, a champion of federalism and the states, welcomes that and encourages all Americans to think of that as RIGHT. Anything, ANYTHING which is not expressly granted to the federal government by the Constitution is automatically left to the states, their judiciary, legislation and THEIR PEOPLE. That is the American way. There is nothing but nothing in the Constitution about the right to abortion. The court reasoned that the 14th Amendment and the so–called right to privacy justified the abortion decision. Nothing said Justice Alito in the leaked decision could be more unconstitutional than that conclusion, fatuous reasoning to be sure. If that decision holds, and there is always some possibility that there could be change as the court engages in final dialogue, the court will probably vote 6–3 to reverse, or perhaps 5–4 (one never knows about Chief Justice Roberts), and We the People can expect violence to erupt all over our great Country. Perhaps no one or no entity would be safe from the attacks of the violent, progressive, ultra–liberal left. SCARY TIMES INDEED!Security will be increased everywhere and especially for the nine members of the Supreme Court and their families. There has already been a “slay plot” on the life of Justice Kavanaugh. U.S. Marshalls, protecting his home and family, thwarted that attack. But there is more to come, for sure. Perhaps any of the other five so–called conservative–leaning Justices would be in danger of violence. That would include: Justice Roberts Justice Thomas Justice Alito Justice Gorsuch Justice Barrett In addition to Justice Kavanaugh. If more violence occurs against the Supreme Court (SCOTUS), it would be interesting to see the public reaction of liberal Justices Kagan, Jackson and Sotomayor. There would probably be very little for, like America itself, the Supreme Court is divisive, split, and deeply polarized. If Roe is reversed, it is interesting that, of our 50 states, perhaps half would protect abortion with new legisl
Ep 117Father
Two kinds of fathers are there. The one Heavenly, the other earthly. The Lord of Glory, the Carpenter of Nazareth said:“I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE.”What a claim. Blasphemy by a human being if it were not true. But they were ONE, and the carpenter from Nazareth told us in unequivocal terms that the CREATOR OF THIS UNIVERSE AND OUR EARTH was indeed among so many other things a:FATHERTo Him and to us. For otherwise, this Creator would be completely unknown, incapable of being known by us, but HE is. And, the Supreme Creator loves us and cares for us. To me that is a thought incomprehensible were it not for:HIMOur Lord Jesus Christ took something remote, obscure and unfathomable and made it known, personal, deeply meaningful and loving so that we, the creatures of His creation, could understand who we are, why we are, and what we should believe.We are to understand and believe said Jesus, that there is for us an ETERNAL FATHER and not merely a cosmic Creator. We are known as individuals, as sons and daughters by this Father, and we are not mere specks in the universe or dust in the wind. We have meaning. We are in fact SONS AND DAUGHTERS of this Father having claimed our inheritance as such through the SON Jesus Christ. Hard to comprehend but true.We are also told that God the Father is love. GOD IS LOVE, and that love is the essence of God and so available to us. Love is the greatest says the Scriptures, more so than faith and hope, and to know that God is love incarnate is just incredible.And we who are fathers should love the very same way. Even as the eternal Father loves us, so should we love our children. If a Heavenly Father loves unconditionally, so an earthly father should do the same, love the child unconditionally. The highest attributes of any earthly father are the embracing, heartfelt and unconditional loving openness to the child even as the Father loves the child:LOVE NEVER FAILSBut there is another side of love from our Heavenly Father, a TOUGH LOVE. That is, love at work which is ready to:DISCIPLINELove may indeed be meek, warm, gentle and forgiving, kind and open and it should be. But love must also be tough, demanding, disciplined and concerned for all things which are:RIGHTFor there are indeed prodigal sons and daughters who go astray. As such, they honor not the Heavenly Father nor the earthly. Discipline is required, firm and straight. The rod was used in the old days to accomplish discipline and to carryout punishment. But that has been taken away. Discipline today is more on the order of depriving the child of opportunities and pleasures or requiring the child to make up for the wrong and do what is right. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. But fathers can not SPARE THE ROD however the rod is determined for that is a fatherly duty. No child can grow without discipline for there is nothing worse for a father than a child spoiled and bent upon his own way. Demanding standards, the terms and conditions of sonship, are a father’s duty which can not be delegated or ignored. And the Scriptures make it perfectly clear:WHOM THE FATHER LOVES HE CHASTENSChastening is real love at work. BY THEIR FRUITS, LOVING DISCIPLINE AT WORK, YE SHALL KNOW THE FATHER AND WHO THE FATHER TRULY IS.The integrity of the father is critical. Dads must do what they say and dads must say what they mean. The father must live by the same standards he requires of the child. The father must be consistent in character, live a life with values and without hypocrisy. Nothing is harder for a child to accept than lectures about right and wrong from a father who lives by neither. So that, a father does not have to explain or justify the demands. The father does not have to negotiate with the child and in the course of discipline ask the child if it is OK.For it matters not if the child agrees with the father. If a child respects a loving father, that is all that is required. So many families seem to have so little respect for each other and rapidly become dysfunctional. But a true father, a real father is head of household. He is the one in charge, so say the Scriptures, kind, loving, considerate and respectful of all including and especially the wife-mother, but head of the household nonetheless. Discharging all of those functions gives the father the right to discipline and demand. But again, the father has earned that right by the way he lives. When the son is old and ready for his own life, the ways of the father will be his and the son in turn will perpetuate, carryon those values for his family. It is so very important for the father to incorporate the son into his life. To train up the child is to involve the child in the life, the career, the work of the father. So many sons carry on, inherit and follow the father. Father and son, or daughter, work together, learn together and the father teaches in practical ways. What the father holds dear and in which he has invested his life becomes part of the child, a very practica
Ep 116The Conservatives
It really is not all that popular to be a conservative today, is it? The liberal side of our society stereotypes a conservative as biased, narrow, even fundamentalist. A conservative is oppressive, defensive and for many offensive. But what exactly is a conservative? Can any individual human being be classified as a conservative in every way, for every occasion or every issue, anymore than a liberal can? For, in reality, virtually every human being holds some conservative points of view as well as liberal. And even the most ardent liberal can find himself or herself on the conservative side of an issue from time to time.So I ask again, what exactly is a conservative?One young aggressive entrepreneur Pia Varma chooses not to even use the word conservative, but rather the POLITICAL RIGHT. And she, bright young thinker that she is, thinks of this political right as a mixture of different and often conflicting factions. And, she is right even as there are many different liberal points of view in the liberal tent. There are, Varma says, under this conservative or politically to-the-right tent the following: Republicans Conservatives Libertarians Classical Liberals Objectivists Randians Austrians Neocons RadconsNine of them. Some who may think of themselves as conservative may never have heard of some of these conceptual categories or political groups. Do you know, for example, what a Radcon is, or for that matter an Austrian? There are for them enough differences on the political scene to differentiate themselves, to form a new category, and postulate new political philosophies and principles. Differences prevail and no wonder there are often conflicting factions under the so-called conservative or politically right tent. But it seems as though there are common areas of agreement for all those politically conservative or on the right.The first point of agreement is that government should be less and not more. Government at work in any capacity, size or political or social sphere is NEVER the solution, never. Government at work, especially large government, creates more problems than it provides solutions. All conservatives agree.Conservatives further agree that government bureaucracy is social and financial strangulation. It produces little more than obscure, inefficient and extremely difficult rules and regulations, and red tape at every turn. Conservatives also agree that welfare of any kind, in any extreme, is wrong done by government. That is so whether corporate or personal welfare. Government cannot provide and support in any permanent way again without causing more problems than solutions.Conservatives also agree that the government must take a conservative approach to the world of finances, to money. Government cannot provide bailouts and government cannot print money to pay the debt, only at the cost of runaway inflation and the devaluation of private assets and property.Conservatives agree that our Constitution and its precious amendments are the law of the land, and that law must be respected at every turn. Conservatives are essentially strict constructionists when it comes to the constitutional law and in fact all law and its interpretation and application of the law. Conservatives are passionate believers in individual freedom, and freedoms generally, and they rebel at the thought of government circumscribing any individual freedom. The more government intervenes, the less freedom there is.Conservatives passionately agree that taxes should be extremely limited. All taxpayers should be treated fairly and equally. The concept of taxation should never be utilized for social purposes, and any form of taxation should be eliminated whenever it is not absolutely necessary. Those on the political right think that the tax code should be overhauled, simplified or perhaps even eliminated in favor of a flat tax. Rampant taxation is a means towards socialism, it results in a redistribution of wealth and the subservience of individual rights, including and especially financial opportunity.Conservatives passionately believe in free enterprise and in the great system of capitalism without undue restraint or restriction. Those on the political right believe in laissez faire. That is, government HANDS-OFF, hands-off private enterprise and capitalism at work. Let the marketplace determine and let individuals have maximum opportunity to think, create, and make things happen.None of those nine groups would disagree in any fundamental way with these overarching principles. Whether Republican, Conservative, Libertarian, Classical Liberal, Objectivist, Randian, Austrian, Neocon or Radcon, or any other form or type of conservatism, none would disagree with the above principles. They are fundamental. They are American. They are the principles which formed the basis and total structure of our great country. They have guided us for more than two and a quarter centuries and those principles are right. They are the best. Without
Ep 115Abortion - Dobbs Vs. Jackson
I am a born again Christian. I do not believe in abortion. I think it is morally wrong, biblically unacceptable. But if my daughter was raped or the victim of incest, I would allow her to have an abortion. In fact, I would encourage it.Those words come from one of my fellow Christians, were not mine. They came from a dear friend who is a very strong Christian. His argument was seemingly well taken for all discussion about abortion is theoretical, in the world of the hypothetical unless abortion happens to:YOUWhat would you do, father or mother if your daughter, became pregnant and would have a child born unplanned and even unwanted? What would you do? What would you decide and how would you make that decision? If your daughter wanted, even begged for an abortion so as not to have her life ruined by RAPE, would you turn her down? And if she had an abortion, would you shun her, ostracize her, remove her from your family or worst of all, seize loving her, would you?The real question is, are there any circumstances, any at all where the otherwise brutal, killing act of abortion can be justified, any at all?There are Christians who do believe that abortion can be justified, even biblically so in the event of rape, incest, or the life of the mother, or the life of the baby. Do you believe that and would you participate in or at least condone the act of abortion for any of those four circumstances or happenings, would you?There are those who say that, no matter how a woman may get pregnant, the pregnancy should be carried to full term, the baby born and if unwanted, given up for adoption. But not killed, not destroyed in the womb no matter the circumstances of conception, including rape and incest. Do you agree with that, do you? Adoption agencies the country over are ready to take the born baby, care for it and seek the right home. Therefore, don’t kill, that is abort the baby in the womb. God, they say, allowed this to happen, it was part of his WILL and therefore, this baby no matter how conceived should be born. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? That is really a profound issue, is it not? Why, says a family and especially the pregnant mother–to–be should we suffer, live the rest of our lives with the results of this tragedy when a simple and safe abortion would end the matter, why? The words of my friend are haunting, my born again, Christian friend. Under any of those four circumstances, if pregnancy happened to his daughter as a result of rape, incest, or her life or that of the baby was threatened, he would gladly condone abortion for her sake. Would you, would you? I don’t know what I would do if such a tragedy had happened in my family or to one of my daughters. I suppose I would have many long and loving talks with her, I would make certain that she would consider biblical and moral points of view and I would make certain that she would wrestle with the possibility of giving birth and giving up for adoption. But if she insisted on abortion, I do not know what I would do, do you? If your daughter insisted upon having an abortion, under any of these four circumstances, would you support her, would you? Fortunately for most, these questions remain hypothetical. The issues are theoretical because any such tragic pregnancy has not happened to us, to any one in our family. But one of these tragic pregnancy circumstances happens to literally millions of families and will continue to happen. It will be an issue which will never go away no matter what the Supreme Court decides, no matter what the States decide, no matter the activities of Planned Parenthood and no matter how biblical admonishments are interpreted. The day may come when you or members of your family are forced to deal with abortion in reality rather than hypothetically. What will you do? How will you decide for abortion, whether legal or illegal will always be available, always. Every American that Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey may well be overturned by the Supreme court in a June decision. Dobbs v. Jackson. That will not end abortion. The matter will be returned to the States and the people for decision, perhaps where that decision should be made in a democracy like America. Would that there were men and women every where who would rise up and put an end once and for all to this abominable practice. Not so for at least 24 states are poised to enact some of the most protective and pro-abortion laws and legislation ever guaranteeing the right of any woman to abortion. It will be readily available in any of those states. While some states may treat abortion as a criminal act, which in my view it is, others will make it more available than ever. Liberal private enterprise will be involved. Amazon will cover up to $4,000 in expenses annually for employees who need to travel to other states to access treatment for non-life-threatening situations including abortion. Citigroup has already done that. If any woman wants an abortion, it will be availabl
Ep 114Memorial Day
In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May, echoing the words and sentiments of the proclamation of General John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic in 1868 who stated:“Memorial Day is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion (the Civil War) and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet, church yard in the land.”So it is that the primary purpose of Memorial Day is to strew with flowers literally and figuratively the graves and memories of America’s daring defenders. They the fallen died for freedom, liberty, for America, for us, for YOU AND ME. We were asked to remember those who died in the great American Civil War, but the day to remember now incorporates all who have given lives in defense of our country. Far too many wars, my fellow Americans, and far too many fallen defenders by the millions who believed in America, and in its fundamental principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all mankind. How grateful we should be. We are descendants or contemporaries of patriots, men and women who cherish freedom and were willing to fight and die to defend it if necessary. These warriors lived by the words of Patrick Henry who said:GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH.Our nation was formed in the fight for freedom for there was no life worthwhile without it. There came our great Constitution and our incredible BILL OF RIGHTS, the rights and freedom amendments which are the finest in the history of mankind. But no matter the origin, it seems as though in so many ways the passion for freedom may have been lost today as they once had it. We seem to take for granted what they died for. And the courage they the fallen had seems lost today in so many ways and the change in our country, produces in so many ways an America in decline, at least politically, philosophically and certainly passionately. Our ancestors fought for the Constitution, for the Bill of Rights and the freedoms those now 27 Amendments allow us. They were ready to die for them, but we the current people allow them to be watered down, interpreted away and often ignored without the fight or conviction to protect and defend them. Perhaps the freedoms of Patrick Henry are giving way to a slow but sure death. Perhaps we have failed to meet the challenge of Ben Franklin who told us that the Republic they created for us was a marvelous way of government IF we could keep it. I wonder if we can. So, in the midst of barbeques and baseball, it is so healthy to look back and remember. Remember a George Washington, a general, a leader, a President, a warrior, a patriot. Or a Paul Revere who rode the land warning that the enemy was coming, sounding the alarm. It seems as though we need more Paul Reveres, warning us that enemies to our Constitution and way of life are coming, and in fact are HERE. We the people should be ever mindful of the threats and sound the alarm as he did, like those who energized our country once before, THE BOSTON TEA PARTY PATRIOTS and the revolution their courageous acts energized and inspired. They took a stand against taxes and so must we. Ours continue to rise, and rise to the point of confiscation and nothing but nothing destroys freedom like taxes. President John Adams reminded us that the two killers of liberty are slavery and debt. The debt of confiscatory taxation strangles freedom and that is happening at an incredibly rapid pace today. Shame on us.It is hard for us to think back and remember the early days in America when slavery, slavery was a way of life in America to our great shame and embarrassment. We the moderns find that inconceivable, and the practice of slavery of any kind abhorrent, do we not? Right-thinking men and women fought and fell to rid America of the scourge of slavery, God bless them.And to rid the world of despots like Hitler, evil to the core, Mussolini and those who in war would destroy the freedom and liberty of all. God bless them.There can hardly be a family anywhere in America which has not laid a son or daughter on the altar of freedom. So many fought and fell, lives given willingly for us in war after war. And there were those who supported those who fought. We honor them. Many of our warriors and defenders came home hurt and damaged in body or mind perhaps for a lifetime. On Memorial Day, we honor these veterans of wars, these HEROES, these wounded warriors who gave us our freedom:WE OWE THEM!A debt we can never repay. To honor them is the least we can do, to thank them as we remember and as we encounter those in our military who follow after them. We should help and support them. They lived and died for what they believed. Whenever I encounter a member of our military, I thank them for what they did and what they do for our great country, for me, and for you, and for my friends and
Ep 113Abortion - Murder
ALL RELIGIONS ACCEPT ABORTION.Guess who said that. Not me my fellow Christians and fellow Americans, not me. Those were the words of the President of the United States Joe Biden who as we know is an ardent pro–abortion President which doesn’t seem to matter to the Roman Catholic church. He remains a member in good standing while he abdicates abortion, MURDER. But the early Biden, Senator Biden from Delaware in 1974 said the following:“I think the ruling (pro–abortion from the Supreme Court) went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what would happen to her body.”The power, the money, the notoriety and prestige of Washington D.C., so–called potamic fever captured THE BIG GUY big time. Biden was referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which by a 5–4 vote by the Supreme Court, the practice of murder also known as abortion was made legal the Country over in ROE by the vote of five American citizens, FIVE! Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year. There followed the next major abortion case PLANNED PARENTHOOD V. CASEY in 1997. That case decided by the Supreme Court reaffirmed Roe’s protection of the right of a woman to abortion. The Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion was encompassed by the 14th amendment’s DUE PROCESS CLAUSE which guarantees liberty. From the very beginning, constitutional scholars, jurists generally and learned laymen, conservative and liberal, disagreed with the decision, called its reasoning flawed, irresponsible, and unconstitutional and in a later case, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist protested that rights, so–called, are only protected by the due process clause if they are “deeply rooted in this nation’s history and tradition”. Therefore, according to his reasoning, abortion which before 1973 was never a right of any kind of any woman should not have been proclaimed a constitutional right especially under the due process clause of the 14th amendment. Abortion as it was before 1973 was a matter for the people and a matter for the states, but not the Federal Government and not the nine UNELECTED MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. The Country–wide knows well the matter of the LEAK of the Supreme Court draft of a potential decision by the Supreme Court which would overturn not only ROE, but CASEY as well. The draft was written by Justice Alito. Alito said “a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions. Roe was egregiously wrong from the start”. In short, there was no right to privacy on the part of any woman in that regard nor did any supposed right of abortion fall under the protection of the due process clause of the 14th amendment. Consequently, two very wrong decisions must be overturned in order to protect constitutional integrity and the reasoning and decision–making of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court, if it holds to such a preliminary decision, will effectuate these long overdue overturning of the abortion permitting cases of Roe and Casey in the case now under decision DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION. The Supreme Court is now staffed by nine Justices, six of whom are essentially conservative in thinking. There is every good chance that abortion will no longer be considered a constitutional right for every citizen and every state. MAY IT BE SO!Even if the Dobbs decision allows the Supreme Court to overturn Roe and Casey and as one put it, get out of the abortion thicket, that will unfortunately not end abortion in America. It would simply return the issue of abortion to the states which would decide, by popular vote and by their own legislatures whether or not abortion should be legal within their state boundaries. Surveys estimate that 26 states are certain or very likely to ban abortion without Roe. But that means 24 states would allow it, including most of the most populous states in our Country (i.e. California, New York and the like). It would be ironic indeed if abortion was killing–murder in 26 states but perfectly legal in 24 others. Such is life in America 2022. The leaked draft (Alito) notes that abortion battles have remained bitterly divisive for the past half century and Alito well states that the Supreme Court cannot bring about the permanent resolution of a rancorous national controversy simply by dictating a settlement and telling the people to move on. Please note. The Supreme Court has not made a final decision, not by any means. Drafts like the one prepared by Justice Alito are circulated, reviewed, critiqued and CHANGED. So are votes, Supreme Court votes. And there is always the role of Chief Justice John Roberts who always looks for middle ground, healthy compromise and some way to avoid what he thinks of as BLACK AND WHITE, but rather grey, flexible, inclusive. A final decision will probably not be issued until the end of June ample time for any Justice to change his or her mind or opini
Ep 112Ukraine - Billy Graham
HE BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH!Loud and clear, he does, his ministry carried on by his son Franklin Graham. The ministry which bears his name, THE BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION (BGEA) carries on its spiritual and humanitarian calling at the very highest levels. The BGEA may be even more effective today, especially from a humanitarian standpoint. A madman, a tyrant, dictator and butcher from Russia has killed tens of thousands of people and injured many more. This one man wants Ukraine to be part of Russia and he will do anything, Vladimir Putin will, to make that happen, even at the expense of thousands of innocent human lives. They mean nothing to him, nothing. Some four million people, maybe more, have fled Ukraine. They fear for their lives and rightly so. Putin’s Russian butchers kill without warning and indiscriminately. They murder, rape and plunder. Zelensky and his cohorts beg and plead for Western help, especially USA and get little or none. But they fight on, defending their freedom, perhaps choosing to die rather than live under Russian rule. Any organization or individual for that matter which comes to the aid of Ukraine is as brave as can be, all on the altar, willing to risk life and limb for the sake of others, do unto others at the highest level.Such an organization is THE BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION (BGEA). They go anywhere under any circumstances to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And more, often much more. They go everywhere with humanitarian aid. They provide medical services. And clothing. And shelter. And food. They know they must provide human aid before that individual is capable of hearing the gospel. BGEA feeds the hungry and perhaps most importantly, provides medical services through trained doctors, the services of men and women highly competent, highly trained who are at the highest levels professionally and spiritually. They do so through their organization’s Samaritans Purse. That is one incredible organization. The good it has done, the benefit to mankind is simply outstanding. Those tremendous individuals meet need, whatever it is. Billy Graham would be proud! Another branch of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association ministries is that of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG–RRT). They have gone to the Ukraine, risking their lives in order to minister to and train church leaders on the methodology of ministering in the times of serious crisis. First, the needs of the body but then the even greater need, the need for salvation through Jesus Christ. Again, the one–of–a–kind Billy Graham would be proud.Franklin Graham, the son and worthy successor of Billy deployed a team of disaster response specialists to Poland, Romania and Moldova to provide aid and meet the needs of the some four million people who have already fled the Ukraine for the safety of those nations. The BGEA affiliated organizations Samaritans Purse deployed these disaster response specialists and in addition, Samaritans Purse sent an Emergency Field Hospital to Ukraine and set up a medical clinic at the train station in Lviv, one of the largest cities in the country. Again, Dr. William Franklin Graham, the Billy of old would be proud. This emergency hospital can do fourteen major surgeries per day or thirty minor surgeries per day, an incredible feat indeed, incredible spiritual and humanitarian–medical accomplishments, driven and motivated by the love and passion for Jesus Christ. Samaritans Purse which provides these services has long partnered with more than 3,200 churches within Ukraine and that partnership will not stop even in the face of this evil, satanic war. “God calls us to go into crisis areas to help those who are most vulnerable”, said Franklin Graham. And BGEA does just that through its excellent ministries Samaritans Purse and the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. By the way, if you want to be certain that any gift you make for the benefit of the Ukraine is rightly used, give it to BGEA. Ukraine and Russian churches, their leaders and pastors, and so many families who are congregation members who have stayed in the Ukraine, refusing to leave their homeland no matter what Putin does, have joined together in fellowship, worship, prayer and concern for their fellow human beings. They are, these truly called individuals, truly unstoppable in the face of this crisis. Those who truly love and believe in Jesus Christ are better than ever when any crisis is at its worst. Said Franklin Graham, “My father (Billy) preached several times in the Soviet Union. Some criticized him for going there, since the U.S.S.R. was under authoritarian communist rule and the Cold War was raging but my father (what a great man) knew that the message of the gospel was for all people and the people desperately needed to hear the Good News. In 1992, less than a year after the fall of the Soviet Union, my father preached to more than 155,000 people at Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, where more than 12,000 peopl
Ep 111Mother
In our world, love rules. It is the highest attribute, with fundamental characteristic of all humankind. Perhaps the finest expression of love is:MOTHER LOVEThe definition of mother, a real mother is simply put:LOVEA mother’s love is the ultimate human love.It is said that THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE RULES THE WORLD. Perhaps so because so much of a child is formed in the early years by mother. One is in life so much of what a mother was. A real mother is part of the life of a child forever. What we learn at mother’s knee is so often what we are. Her values become ours. We are HER. The egg of a woman is the source of all life, the fundamental stuff of the universe and when fertilized by the sperm of the male:LIFEThe most precious thing of all happens. The egg and the sperm unite and become one but it is:GODWho gives life. At that very moment of conception, the life of a HUMAN BEING begins.That life is not a mere collection of cells as one biologist so flippantly said, but in reality the first moments of the life of a human being, a child on the grow in the womb. That fertilized egg is a BABY. So much for abortion which is nothing more than murder of that baby at any stage in the womb. And so the mother begins mothering, and the baby grows. The enriched womb of the mother nourishes and cherishes the baby, sensitive to every need. The morning sickness is a small price to pay for the life within. Moods and diets may change as the womb grows large and beautiful. It is really wondrous to behold the change of mother in the making with that womb at work. It is marvelous indeed to touch the nine month home of that child. The ear presses down, hoping to hear any sound from the baby. Touching, hearing, kissing, sensing life at work are really more important than any ultrasound. God at work through Mother Nature creating life is wondrous, even miraculous. Some today are actually privileged to see the baby born. Out of the womb comes a bundle of joy, of life and yet another miracle happens. The pain of childbirth is so well worth the end result. Perhaps it is the most loving moment, the ultimate loving moment when brand new baby lays firm on mother’s breasts. Having seen that, how I wonder could any potential mother abort, kill her very own child? To do so is to abort a miracle.Early on, it is the still, small voice of the mother which is perhaps the greatest teacher in life. We the infants hear that voice and remember what the voice of our mother sounds like and says for a lifetime. We do so consciously and perhaps even more importantly subconsciously. That loving voice in many ways is angelic, the early words of love. They come with touch, and they are spiritual, psychological, character forming and building. The love of a mother is every bit as important as food itself. So, in a sense, these early words are eternal for they train up the child in the way the mother wishes the child to go and to grow is not to depart from the right ways of the mother. The words of a mother to her child are melodic, soothing, comforting. They support, encourage and they make a child feel safe. A mother touches, hugs, strokes, talks and sings to her baby, episodes never to be forgotten. When all else fails and all others as well, a truly loving mother never does. She is forever, eternal.A loving mother is kind. In a world rough and confrontational, the kindness of the mother is a most necessary characteristic.A loving mother is never jealous, never envious, always willing to put the child first, in love. A real loving mother is proud of her child no matter what the child becomes.Motherly love is always positive, not negative. It looks for the best, the good and the right. But the mother renders discipline when things are wrong. The love of a real mother is tough love. That love has standards, clear, straight and simply and lovingly communicated. Real love is without compromise. A loving mother never bargains with a child.A mother explains and answers perhaps better than any teacher, helping a child to understand. A mother stretches but never pushes knowing that her child must be challenged in order to grow. There is always demand and discipline from the right mother, both easy to implement when the child knows he or she is:LOVEDA loving, Godly mother makes certain her child understands her standards and values and those of God as well.A loving Godly mother teaches the child the things of her Lord. Train up that child in the ways of faith, of Christian faith, the faith of the mother. There is no better witness for the child than a loving Christian mother, living life by those standards and the child along with her. That is faith with works, the best kind. A real loving mother gives time, quality time to the child. There is for mother and child that quality time to talk and much more importantly, and especially for mother, to:LISTENIn an age of cell phones, babysitters, fast foods, carpools and demanding social life, all of that and eve
Ep 110Israel and the Jews
JESUS WAS A JEW!His mother, the blessed virgin Mary was a Jew. Joseph, Mary’s husband was a Jew. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, conceived by the Holy Ghost. Jesus was raised in Nazareth, in Jewish surroundings, culture, education and work ethic, the son of a carpenter, a trade he was intimately familiar with.Jesus the Jew often went to Jerusalem, UP TO THE TEMPLE. There, with them, he worshipped, learned, observed and respected the Jewish holidays, especially Passover and even at a young age, dialogued with the Rabbis, discussing scripture and the Torah, amazing all with his incredible learning and wisdom. Jesus the Jew was of the seed of David, the King of Israel whom God loved. The blood and genes coursing through his body were Abrahamic in heritage. Jesus the Jew was one of God’s Chosen People, destined by his Father for the most special role in human history. Jesus was destined to be the Messiah prophesied by the prophets of scripture, the Torah and what Christians refer to as the Old Testament.Jesus the Jew loved Jerusalem even as he loved the Jews. He wept as he cried out how much he would have loved to gather Jerusalem’s people under his wing, like a mother hen with her chicks but they had nothing to do with him, nothing. He knew how special Jerusalem was. The Prophet Zachariah declared some 2,500 years ago:“THUS SAYS THE LORD. I WILL RETURN TO ZION (JERUSALEM), AND DWELL IN THE MIDST OF JERUSALEM. JERUSALEM SHALL BE CALLED THE CITY OFTRUTH.”There is no place in this world like Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the place where Abraham offered Isaac on the altar. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible 811 times. It is respectfully referred to as THE CITY OF DAVID, ZION, THE CITY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING, among others. Jerusalem was the place where Christian Church history began. The Book of Acts is replete with references to the activities and sufferings of the early Christians, including Peter and John. I have had the pleasure and privilege of visiting Israel and Jerusalem 9 TIMES! There is no city in the world like Jerusalem, none. The Prophet Ezekiel states the words of the Lord:“I HAVE SET HER (JERUSALEM) IN THE MIDST OF THE NATIONS AND THE COUNTRIES ALL AROUND HER.” It is the place where Jesus the Jew, the Christ of Glory, the Messiah will return for the second time and claim his Church. It is a place chosen by God Almighty, where His name may be forever, the Lord has chosen Zion, a city he has desired for his “dwelling place”, meeting place, the City of God. There is every scriptural, biblical reference to the fact that Jerusalem is ETERNAL. It will never die! Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, by decree of King David was special in all of history and will be so in the End Times. Scriptures tell us that Jesus will return, the second time to Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. He will then establish the Millennium, the thousand–year reign from Jerusalem. As the Prophet Jeremiah stated:“AT THAT TIME (THE RETURN OF THE MESSIAH), JERUSALEM SHALL BE CALLED THE THRONE OF THE LORD, AND ALL THE NATIONS SHALL BE GATHERED TO IT, TO THE NAME OF THE LORD, TO JERUSALEM!”But the best has yet to come. After the Millennium, the ultimate Jerusalem, THE NEW JERUSALEM will descend and be the capital city of the new earth and the new heaven, so says the scripture. The Holy City, the new Jerusalem will be established. The God of Abraham, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will bring about the Peace of Jerusalem, of Israel, and the whole world. There will be no more wars, sickness, sadness for the new heavens and the new earth will be the Eternal Kingdom forevermore. THUS SAITH THE SCRIPTURES, THE WORD OF GOD!Think of that my fellow Christians, and in fact all people. You worship a Jew! Your savior was a Jew. The Great Physician was a Jew. The most astounding human–being ever was a Jew. Think of that any time you encounter a modern–day Jew, one who comes from the blood and genes of Abraham. Even as Jesus was chosen by God, for His special saving mission, the Son of the Father God to whom you and we pray, so that Jew today, 2% of the American population, and perhaps no more than 15 million worldwide are special in the eye of Almighty God. Think of that the next time you encounter rabid, ever–increasing ANTI–SEMITISM. Jesus was a Jew.Hate crimes against Jews have never been more so, especially in America but the world over as well. Jews are attacked, Synagogues are burned, Jewish–owned property is destroyed, universities attacked and much of the world in the Middle East now seems ready to make war against Israel and the Jews. The world seems more than ever against Christianity. Perhaps that is so because, at least in part, JESUS WAS A JEW. For any Christian, real Christian, THE JEWISH JESUS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE. God Almighty has said in Genesis that any one who blesses the Jews will also be blessed. But if you curse them, go up against them, hurt them, revile them, ostracize them, ri
Ep 109Easter Again
HE IS RISEN!Haven’t forgotten that, have you? Just because we celebrated Easter and the Easter message of resurrection even though virtual Sunday, April 4, I just can’t let you and me ever forget that. It’s not just April 4, it’s every day of 12 MONTHS. HE is the only man who ever triumphed over death and the grave, none before Him and none since. THE ONLY ONE! That resurrection, that bodily resurrection, that ascension, that VERIFIED – WITNESSED resurrection and ascension is crucial, pivotal, revolutionary, life changing, essential and indispensable to the belief of every Christian. Morning, noon and night, every day of all 365, the living, resurrected Christ LIVES within the hearts of every Christian believer. And every believer, the Christ has promised, will live with Him now, in this life, and in the life WITH HIM to come. Incredible, is it not? Wonderful, glorious, jubilant, to every believer. But to the natural man:FOOLISHNESS, Absolute and altogether foolishness. It is absolutely ridiculous, says a natural man, an atheist or agnostic, that a mere human being, a carpenter from Nazareth no less, who came from dust and shall return to dust as the scriptures say should rise from the dead. It is just simply not possible. And of course, the myth of the resurrection and the myth of the virgin birth and even for many the myth of the crucifixion all are nothing more than fairytales or as the scriptures say IDLE tales. One can readily see how a natural man, one not drawn by THE HOLY SPIRIT, with eyes closed and ears blocked would scoff, mock and ridicule the EASTER story. If you want, as physicist and astronomer Steven Hawkins would say to believe in a myth of fairytale, that is your right. But the world of science, says Hawkins, astronomy and the so called reason and rationality of the mind dismiss a resurrection possibility out of hand. It didn’t happen, says Hawkins. IT CAN’T HAPPEN!And, to that, the Apostle Paul says if in fact the resurrection did not happen, then:YOUR FAITH IS IN VAIN.Worthless. No better than any other belief system, if even that. If Christ be not risen, any professing believer is not only deceived but becomes him or herself a DECEIVER. Such a believer testifies to a lie, perhaps the biggest lie in all of human history and consequently, becomes a conspirator in the spread of evil and duplicity. So that, not only is the believer’s faith in vain, but the guilt of the false belief of others lies upon him or her as well. When you or I profess to be Christian, we must therefore champion the resurrection with all of our heart, soul and mind. There can be no doubt. NONE! Perhaps that is why the nonbeliever dislikes, even hates Christianity and as a consequence the Christians who follow it. Nonbelievers hate the concept of sin. They see no need for forgiveness. They deeply resent the demands of Christianity and the Christ who boldly proclaims:NO MAN OR WOMAN COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY ME!Nonbelievers hate that demand, that exclusivity. For it rules out everything else, every other form of belief, in fact every other religion. The crucifixion at Golgotha was merely the death of one man, perhaps even justified. The man who died was a revolutionary, a seditionist, constantly conspiring to get THE PEOPLE to resist and rebel against Rome, the political system, Herod and Pilot on the one hand and the religious authorities, the Pharisees and Sadducees on the other. And he even admitted he came to stir up trouble, to turn one family member against another. He called Herod the Tetrarch of Rome a FOX, cunning, deceiving and lying. The religious establishment despised him because he referred to them over and again as nothing more than hypocrites, or whited sepulchers, empty inside. If any mere man deserved to die, and die in an excruciating way, it was this mirror man Jesus of Nazareth. It was with HIM then as it is now love or hate. You embraced him, believed in him, gave him your all. Or you despised, even hated him nothing more than a rebel or rabble rouser, deluded, even perhaps insane a man in no way to be taken seriously. WITH OR AGAINST. And, written off by Him who again boldly even arrogantly stated:HE THAT IS NOT WITH ME IS AGAINST ME.The world, the secularists, the natural men and women accommodate Christianity one weekend, three days each year. From Good Friday through resurrection Sunday, those who believe in fairytales are allowed their celebration. But then comes Monday and it is back to business as usual, criticizing Christianity, attempting at every hand to get Christians, Christian beliefs and Christianity out of the public square, out of the marketplace, confined if at all possible to the four walls of a church. They are determined, these rabid, progressive secularists to curtail or eliminate Christian witness, any form of evangelism for they the enemy have determined that all Christian speech is:HATE SPEECH. They are determined to destroy, eliminate any form of testimony, any message wh
Ep 108Easter - The Lord is Risen
Up the carpenter went to Jerusalem, knowing full well why. It was time, HIS time, the time, the eternal time as appointed when a world changing event would happen. It was to be the end of his earthly journey, a time for the transition between the Jesus of history and the Christ of Glory.There came that time in the Garden of Gethsemane where he went to pray. He asked his disciples to participate, to watch with him, to stay awake with him. Not knowing the incredible events about to happen, they slept. But the Master prayed, communed with the Father. How wonderful the humanity of Jesus the Christ in Gethsemane. As man, he knew the incredible suffering and agony to come, the crucifixion which would happen and he prayed to the Father:LET THIS CUP PASS FROM MELet there be another way to introduce your love and saving grace rather than crucifixion. But the answer was clear, the plan in place. There would be no change. Perhaps that was the greatest expression and revelation of the WILL of God at work. The plan of salvation would begin with Him, Jesus of Nazareth so that all men might know that He was indeed the SON OF GOD. And so, in blessed surrender, the soon to be Christ of Glory uttered this incredible prayer:NOT MY WILL BUT THY WILL BE DONEOn earth even as it is in heaven. He was ready, and willing.Jesus of Nazareth loved Jerusalem as all Jews do. There stood the temple, the holiest place on earth to the Jews, the earthly abiding place of the HOLY OF HOLIES. It was ordained so by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and it was the place, the center for the longing, the love and the passion of all Jews. Jerusalem, the one and only Jerusalem, the City of David.Jesus of Nazareth poured out His love on the city and its people so very special to him. He passionately lamented how he would love to take the city and its people under his wing and to show them what he firmly believed was the way, the truth, and the life, all new things. There would be from God through him a new creation possible, all things and people born again, a fresh and vital spirituality. But before these new gifts from God could become universal, a tragic and horrific event must occur followed by the most miraculous and wonderful event in the history of mankind.HE had dined in Jerusalem with his disciples, a loving Last Supper to commemorate the event to come, the celebration of his body and his blood. That communion of the disciples and the Lord, that spiritual fellowship celebrated vicariously with bread and wine, was the end event for them but only the beginning of a lifelong celebration for us. Roman soldiers found him in Gethsemane. There came the mockery of trial and interrogation before Pilate and Herod. The world knows of the hands–washing, the refusal to make the decision of death for a just and innocent man and the offering to the people of a choice between Jesus of Nazareth and a convicted criminal. The crowd of course chose the criminal.Then came the walk to the cross, the VIA DOLOROSA, the way of sorrow still today commemorated in Jerusalem by the 12 Stations of the Cross. When His cross became too heavy to bear, another carried it for him. Crowds lined the way, watching and listening, some mocking, some wailing, all perhaps sensing this was no ordinary man nor would there be any ordinary crucifixion. But none could know that the world could change.And so, the cruelest and most brutal death possible occurred for an innocent man, a public crucifixion. Roman soldiers nailed Jesus of Nazareth to that wooden cross.It seems ironic indeed, does it not, that a man who lived and worked with wood died a brutal death on wood itself. He hung on that cross for hours, a criminal on each side. The sky grew dark and it was as though the earth and all in it mourned. The Christ of Glory hung in utter agony, and the horrific pain he experienced caused Him to utter these unforgettable words:MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN MEWHY?So alone, in utter agony, feeling even that the FATHER had forsaken Him. It is impossible to know how He felt, how awful that death must have been for Him. But He was man, human. We as humans like him can understand the cruelty of man and the suffering and agony he suffered in death as many of us have. HE took on the suffering of mankind on that Golgotha Hill. So many who loved him watched, mourned and prayed, never really knowing that this tragic crucifixion would turn into a glorious Resurrection.It seemed indeed that in that darkest moment, God Himself had departed, forsaken. Perhaps it was, as some scholars think that this Holy God could not look upon the ultimate and tragic event as they were laid on him the sins of the world. On that cross, in the blood and tortured flesh of the body of the Son of God, in that death unto sin were in fact the sins of the world, all of them and all of ours. That final bloody act of remission and propitiation had to be finished. There had to be that tumultuous and cataclysmic collision of
Ep 107Pride
“There is one vice of which no man or woman in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. There is no fault which makes a man or woman more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.”Those were the wise and spiritually motivated words of C.S. Lewis, a brilliant writer and apologist who in the later years of his life was converted to Christianity. The vice, or as C.S. Lewis called it THE GREAT SIN is perhaps the deadliest of all:PRIDE.Lewis says that pride is an ego–motivated maneuver to hide from ourselves and others the truth about our inner reality. It comes about, says the gospel writer Mark “from within and defiles a man or woman.”Perhaps one of the greatest examples of destructive pride was the ancient King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. This great King, the mightiest of his time, at or about 600 B.C. was a living example of pride which goes before destruction. He built then the city far and a way the most famous and beautiful in the world at that time, the great city of Babylon. Its huge walls were 387 feet high and 85 feet wide, wide enough that four chariots could be driven side by side along the top. The city was a perfect square, 15 miles on each of the four sides, comfortably housing a population of 1.2 million. The mighty Euphrates River flowed through the city and gardens, groves, orchards and farmlands were contained therein, providing enough food to feed the entire city. Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel was full of himself, as prideful as any man could be. Hear his words about himself and his great creation Babylon:“Is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”In one sentence, Nebuchadnezzar referred to himself with one I and two my’s. The great Jehovah brought him down, big time because of his arrogance, his egoism. God turned him into a wolfman and for seven years he ate with the animals until such time as he repented and was restored by the Almighty to his throne. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, pride indeed went before destruction. A good definition of pride is inordinate self–esteem. Too much, character changing to the point where, as C.S. Lewis so well said to the point where this vice causes all to dislike the person. Pride as well is conceit of superiority, better than others, better than the average person, the common man and woman. We see today a perfect example of that in Vladimir Putin. The man is ruthless, barbaric. He is a murderer, a destroyer because HE believes he is right, entitled and destined. He has total disdain for others and through political maneuverings, has become a virtual dictator in Russia like Stalin, like Kruschev, a believer in the theories of Karl Marx, a rabid communist determined to rebuild the old Soviet Union, the UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS.Prideful persons are arrogant. They have an exalted opinion of themselves and there is considerable vanity in their lives. They are indifferent to others. They don’t listen. They simply manipulate the opinion of others in order that what they believe and in a prideful way know is right is fully accepted. Such a man was the Apostle Paul, then Saul, hard as a rock, a prideful, hateful pharisee who saw it as his life mission to destroy and kill Christians. Pride in old line Judaism drove him. But the Christ of Glory brought him down, humbled him beyond belief and radically changed his life. Even as God did that to Nebuchadnezzar, and the Son to Paul, so the day will come when Putin will be brought down and his and Russian pride will be destroyed. Never forget that pride goes before destruction. Pride hardens the heart. A prideful person not only does not listen, but cannot learn and can never appreciate others. Take the case of one of the original twelve disciples, Judas. Here was a man with one of the greatest twelve privileges of all mankind. He worked with, was influenced by, learned from and served the Christ of Glory but never learned to appreciate his God–given opportunity. In fact, he sabotaged, sought to betray and was unfaithful with the money of the Apostles. His thievery and personal shame caused him to commit suicide. How much would you have appreciated being on the original twelve of Jesus Christ? Judas was a prideful man. And so was Peter. When the Roman soldiers came to get our Lord, Peter did not depend upon God, or his Lord for defense. But, took it upon himself to go to battle. He drew his sword, cut off the ear of a Roman soldier and otherwise stood ready for battle until he was put down by his Lord. His pride led him to believe that he could save the day, something utterly impossible. Had he gone to battle with the Roman soldiers, Peter’s Pride would have destroyed him. Pride goes before
Ep 106C-4 - O-Canada
On January 7, 2022, a new law went into effect in Canada. The Bill was known as C–4. In effect, the Canadian Government in this dastardly bill, an overt attack on free speech, banned “conversion therapy”. That was defined as:“ANY PRACTICE, TREATMENT OR SERVICE DESIGNED TO REPRESS OR REDUCE NON–HETEROSEXUAL ATTRACTION OR SEXUAL BEHAVIOR”.This incredible law forbids any form of advice or admonition that challenges such behaviors or tendencies. It seems as though anything non–heterosexual goes. Any dialogue, criticism or speech which challenges such behaviors or tendencies is now illegal, whether that is “offered by professionals, religious officials or laypersons”. If you engage in such discourse, you are guilty of committing a federal offense which the government of Canada in this bill classifies as a HATE CRIME to call a transgender person or a homosexual to repentance. If anyone does that, they have broken the law. Christians, if they do so, that is challenge homosexuality or transgenderism, especially as biblically indicated sinful behavior, have defied the statute and, get this now, can be imprisoned for doing so for as many as:FIVE YEARS!Absolutely unbelievable. That clear portion of scripture is now no and void, and illegal in the once great country of Canada. In addition, C–4 makes it a crime punishable by two years in prison even to recommend or advertise any church or program that urges people to conform their identity and behavior to the biblical and social norms of their biological sex. In short, this horrendous legislation strikes a most serious blow against all Christians, and Christian radio, and the Christian programs which are broadcast on Christian radio, and Christian advertising which promotes directly or indirectly anything which this C–4 statute prohibits and threatens as much as five years in jail or two years in jail for those who do such programming or advertising. You might expect something like this legislation from Russia or China, but never, ever from the once great free democracy of the country of Canada. Unbelievable. That means that potentially three stations of the Crawford Broadcasting Company are at risk daily of violating this law, namely WDCX–FM in Buffalo, WMUZ–FM in Detroit, and WDCX–AM in Rochester. All put signals, programming and advertising into the great country of Canada and sooner or later, each is bound to produce programming or advertising content which will violate this law. As the owner of all three, I find this unbelievable and unacceptable, and I will do whatever is necessary to fight this unjust, undemocratic attack on free speech and especially our beloved Christianity no matter the consequences. This company and I are ready to put all on the altar in defense of the gospel!John MacArthur, strong servant of the Lord says the following:“IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS TO OBEY SUCH A LAW”.The scripture he says defines such conduct as “sinful” and that the conversion process needs to be at work for salvation from such sin. MacArthur reminds us that the church of Jesus Christ is the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It is our duty to obey God and His word rather than man, and in this case C–4. Christians, real Christians in Canada face the most unbelievable challenge to their faith, EVER. Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church points to the very direct and clear scripture, 1 Corinthians 6 which is the polar opposite of this dastardly law C–4. That scripture, now forbidden, is as follows:NEITHER FORNICATORS NOR IDOLATERS, NOR ADULTERERS, NOR EFFEMINATE, NOR HOMOSEXUALS, NOR THIEVES, NOR THE COVETEUS, NOR DRUNKARDS, NOR REVIVALERS, NOR SWINDLERS WILL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD (1 CORINTHIANS 6: 9 – 10).That God–given scripture could not be more clear. It is the duty, says MacArthur, of every true Christian to champion, to preach that truth, that biblical truth as with all others, no matter the consequences. No law made by man can contradict or co–op this emphatic moral commandment. This clarion call from 2,000 years ago, etched in heavenly, moral stone is an inviolable commandment to every Christian. You must, says the Lord through the Apostle Paul, stand up against this immoral, “sinful” behavior and proclaim it as wrong if in fact you are a true follower of Jesus Christ. It is your spiritual duty. MacArthur then goes on to say that REDEEMING CULTURE is not the heart of our God–given task, not a priority as such but preaching the gospel, the whole gospel of Jesus Christ is! The admonitions in 1 Corinthians 6 are a critical, clear and fundamental part of that mission. We are, he reminds us again “obliged to obey God rather than men (Acts 5: 29). We cannot remain silent says the scripture and we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard and know to be true (Acts 4:20). This law is not only an attack on Christianity, but it is also an equally dastardly attack on free speech. We can only hope and pray that there are aggress
Ep 105End Times - Last Days - Lawlessness and Violence
Prophecy in scripture indicates that these may indeed be the last days, the end times of this world. Could be, don’t you think?No man knows the hour, the time, the era when end times will occur, only the FATHER. But it is our duty, says the scripture, to study the signs of the times and to be on the watch, looking for that grand appearance the second time, the return of the savior of the world, the beginning of His reign and the end of all things earthly. A prophecy expert is one David Jeremiah who studies and teaches prophecy, a real expert. Dr. Jeremiah believes that the rapture, the taking away of the real church of Jesus Christ could happen any day, ANY DAY! The signs of the times are right for that to happen. The church of believers will be redeemed, taken out and the great restrainer, the moral restrainer, the Holy Spirit will be removed from this world and as Jeremiah well says, all hell will break loose. Some of that seems to be happening right now, don’t you think? Then will rise up the Anti–Christ who will become the leader of the world, a one world dictator and all with the mark of the beast (666) will pay homage and swear allegiance to him and any who don’t will be cut off and killed. The rise of the Anti–Christ, say prophecy experts, will usher in the great tribulation, a period of seven years says the Prophet Daniel. There will be relative peace for the first three and one half years, and a treaty with Israel which will guarantee peace and its safety. But at the end of the first three and one half years, the peace treaty will be broken and the war to end all wars, the Armageddon of all conflicts will break out and the Anti–Christ will cause nations to rise up against Israel and in fact against all people of faith. Scary stuff, is it not? But, that’s what scripture says, war, violence and killing will occur like has never been seen before in the history of mankind. Prophecy experts believe that real Christians will be gone, delivered, up there with Him even as this incredible slaughter, destruction and barbarism occurs on this earth. The signs of the times seem to indicate that these are the last days. One of the key signs of those barbaric days is lawlessness. The rule of law is replaced by the rule of dictators. And violence. Violence is everywhere. But the main sign is:WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS.Scripture predicts and Jeremiah affirms that Russia will be reborn, reenergized, and play a key role in the military affairs of the last days. We now witness the start of that prophecy with the brutal, barbaric and bestial invasion, slaughter and killing of Ukraine and the Ukrainians. Vladimir Putin is a brutal, barbaric man. He is determined to rebuild the old Russian empire, take back every state and piece of territory which he believes was taken from him and Russia, and as long as he is in power, he will drive the new Russia to retake and rebuild the old USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). The Ukraine war will not end until Ukraine is absolutely subservient to the new Russia. Then, more wars will occur, more invasions, more slaughter and killing of innocent civilians, and eventually, the involvement in these wars of other nations. Russian induced conflicts will spread until the entire world is at war. That then occasions the Third World War, and the last world war, the rapid development of those signs and conditions which lead to the rise of the Anti–Christ and the happening of the tribulation. Prophecy experts say these will be the last wars for they will be NUCLEAR in nature. It only takes one nuclear bomb to trigger the entire world, every country to military action. The nations of Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan and some European countries, along with we Americans, and soon to be if not already Iran have the nuclear bomb and nuclear capabilities. Any one of those nations can unleash one bomb and the world explodes. America is by no means immune as it always has been. In the Second World War, one of the most popular songs was OVER THERE. Americans were energized and motivated to enlist in the military to fight the war over there, the fight with Germany, Japan and Italy. Then came Pearl Harbor in 1941 and we realized that the war over there could very well some day soon be the war over here, right here. It was ironic how that song and others romanticized the war until such time as American body bags began to arrive back in America. War is brutal, vicious, barbaric, evil and the ultimate satanic tool. Russia indicates that America is the ultimate enemy, not Ukraine, not the Baltic States, but THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Russia has the capability of sending ballistic missiles which can reach our shore armed with nuclear warheads and in an instant, some of our great cities and all of its citizens could be totally destroyed never again to return. The modern–day Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Putin may one day do just that. We Americans are unprepared for this war. We believe naively it wo
Ep 104The Angry Parent - Homeschooling
Education has been taken over by radicals, by progressives, by those intent, even passionate about changing America. The true parent gets angrier by the day.But not just a different kind of education, not just all things politically correct and WOKE, there are those in education anti–American, intent on destroying this Country and its history. These subversives now exist at every level of education from day school to graduate school. The payrolls of our colleges and universities are chock full of professors and teachers who have these radical, progressive, woke agendas, far more important to them than the studies they were hired to teach. Enough say the parents, we have had enough. We will find a different and better way to educate our children.So, now there are more than eight million students in America, kindergarten to 12th grade being educated by the means of:HOMESCHOOLING.The Homeschool Boom is happening all across America. Not only did this occur as a result of the incredible default in education of America’s high schools, colleges and universities, but it was fostered by the COVID–19 Pandemic. Homeschooling has been adopted by American families from diverse communities, different political ideologies, and by different races and ethnicities. There are even many children with special needs who have also successfully transitioned to homeschooling. Lance Izumi, Senior Director of Pacific Research Institute’s Center for Education stated the following:“The COVID–19 Pandemic forced millions of students to learn at home. Many parents saw for the first time how ineffective traditional schools were at educating their kids.”What began as a stop gap measure, something temporary until the regular schools could open, turned into a viable alternative for parents who were fed up with public education. The temporary became permanent in so many families, eight million students and growing. This wonderful phenomenon crossed racial and ethnic boundaries. For example, the number of African American families homeschooling increased by five times, FIVE TIMES. And, the number of Hispanic families homeschooling doubled as parents were determined to take control of the minds, hearts and emotions of their precious children. If these precious God–given children were to be educated by progressives, radicals, woke and anti–American teachers, parents who love their children would provide their education themselves. Homeschooling showed the fight, the spirit, the passion of true American families who were determined to control the educational destiny of their children. Enough of Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, the teaching of white supremacy and racism and back to real education. When former governors like former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe tell parents they have no right to tell teachers what they should teach their children, THE ANGRY PARENT rebels and these parents will not only control what is taught, but they will do it themselves!The really good thing about homeschooling is that it is not a phenomenon only among conservatives or Christians. Parents from every background, and religious belief, or even political persuasion are homeschooling. It undoubtedly exists in your own family, or friends, or surely those you know. The Pacific Research Institute even profiles a parent who is a self–proclaimed “flaming liberal” who joined, of all things, with a conservative Christian parent and together they found it a:HOMESCHOOL CO–OPERATIVE. One of the beautiful things about homeschooling is that it can provide the most INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING OPTION POSSIBILE. It offers choice, real choice in education. It offers flexibility, real flexibility. It offers personalization, real personalization. That is simply not available in traditional schools. There are a tremendous array of resources available to help parents educate their children at home. There are online learning platforms. There are affiliations with neighborhood charter schools and more options become available by the day. It is a wonderous movement to behold. But of course, homeschooling comes under increasing attack by teachers’ unions. These powerful unions cannot abide competition and they bring power and political pressure to bear on authorities and politicians to put an end to or severely limit homeschooling. There are many politicians ready to take up the cause in behalf of unions because of their power, money and voting resources and they have no qualms in attacking the homeschoolers, even with the possibility of legislation which would end the phenomenon altogether. And you can be sure the Ivy League academics and other educational elites decry homeschooling and attack it every way possible. That makes these real parents even more determined to preserve, protect and defend their right to educate their children, to control that education as they wish. THE HOMESCHOOL BOOM has also become a successful alternative for the most vulnerable, special needs students i
Ep 103The Angry Parent
Mom and dad are mad, really mad the Nation across. In fact, there is a “wave of anger like no other” coast to coast in America. The problem is education and the source of the anger is:CRITICAL RACE THEORY.Americans by a margin of more than 3 to 1 think that the top issue in our Country is:SOCIALIST IDEAS IN EDUCATION.This information was provided by polling of CONVENTION OF STATES ACTION and THE TRAFALGAR GROUP. They report:“Politicians have vastly underestimated the extent to which parents are charged up about wokeness in education. Everywhere we go across America, people are absolutely furious.”So that, the bottom line is:“When you mess with someone’s kids and their schools, you strike at the very heart of what Americans care about the most.”The right education may well be the most important responsibility of any parent. “Train up a child in the way he or she should go. Train them up right.” So says the scripture. That means not only in the ways and the things of the Lord, but in all things secular which make them better citizens and responsible society members. The right education is critical for any child. Joseph Stalin, the ruthless Russian Dictator told the world that if he could educate a child until that child was four years old, he would have him for life. The worst killer in the history of mankind Adolf Hitler said let me control the books (the education) and I will control the child forevermore. Education, learning, quotes the study to show yourself approved unto God, workman for Him and for society should be priority number one. But, somehow some way, right thinking parents lose control to radicals, progressives, the woke individuals, the radical minority that wishes to replace real history, real facts, real learning with subversive and radical theories like the 1619 project and Critical Race Theory rule the day. How does this happen? How did these radicals get control of school education boards, determine the criteria and curriculum for education and introduce over and again radical change, how does this happen? Parents the Country over are finally waking up to woke, seeing so clearly the damage these radical social ideas in education can cause and they are saying by the millions:ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!And, as always in the radical segments of our society, it is the Democrat party where these candidates arise, and the most radical, progressive of them with their anti–American ideas somehow get control. In Virginia, one very passionate Democrat mother said:“We used to have a good school system. Now, my daughter’s safety and education seem like an after–thought.”The former Democrat Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe said on the campaign trail last fall, a reelection effort he lost by a substantial margin:“I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable! Small wonder this radical, progressive, Democrat Governor lost for he and all like him in Virginia lost perspective, value, historical significance and then, LOST the election big time. McAuliffe was soundly defeated by Republican Glen Youngkin, who aggressively campaigned against socialist ideas in education among many other anti–progressive ideas and principles. Even Virginia’s new Lieutenant Governor, Winsome Sears, by the way the first female and African American woman ever to become Lieutenant Governor, denounced Critical Race Theory and socialist ideas in education. Said she about CRT:“It says that black children are oppressed and white children are the oppressors. And I ask you, what kind of learning can happen in that kind of a school environment?”Conclusion: none, none at all. Nationally, socialist ideas in education is the number one issue among parents in America so say these two polling organizations. All the way west, in progressive, radical San Francisco, California, there is an aggressive and frustrated parental reaction. Voters demanded a recall of pre–Board of Education members and 75%, 3 out of 4 of the votes in that recall election demanded the recall of the only three board members who are eligible to be recalled. They were radical, progressive, kept the public schools of San Francisco closed for 13 months, introduced the most radical education curriculum possible including Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and an agenda endorsed and prorogated by the LGBTQ movement. Even in San Francisco, enough was enough.Back east to Florida. The Governor of that great state is Ron DeSantis, Republican and conservative, a real, true American. The Governor openly and aggressively refers to Critical Race Theory as a, “mortal threat to the United States”. He says:“The rise of this woke ideology is an attempt to really delegitimize our history and to delegitimize our institutions.”DeSantis is determined to tackle Critical Race Theory everywhere he can, and especially in the new corporate diversity, equity and inclusion training programs. He cited certain reports and information prod
Ep 102The Supreme Court - Critical Decisions
9 people, my fellow Americans, make the most fundamental decisions which guide and affect your life, 9 PEOPLE!The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is comprised of 6 men and 3 women. The most pressing, difficult decisions, the fundamental issues of our Country are brought to them for resolution. How fair, objective and constitutional they are determines how we live. Our Supreme Court is now in session and this term, the cases to be decided are some of the most weighty in the history of the court. For example, the Biden Administration, its secretaries and agencies have begun to issue one order or mandate after another whether or not it is constitutional. Our society, our culture, WE THE PEOPLE are being flooded with Executive Orders (the President), mandates from the Justice Department (Attorney General Garland), the US Department of Education, the EEOC, HUD (Housing and Urban Development), just to name some. Many of those orders and mandates are unconstitutional, so say so many of our fifty states, private and nonprofit agencies and individuals. Our Federal Government attempts in every way possible to grow itself, take as much control as possible and in this case, the Biden Administration, turn the Country, actually veer it sharply to the left, the radical progressive left no matter the Constitution. Recently, just weeks after the administration all but admitted that a mandate with respect to vaccination, an Executive Order from the President would “not be the role of the Federal Government”, Biden announced that he would impose a national vaccine mandate on all employers with 100 or more employees. The Federal Agency OSHA began immediately attempting to force any and all private employers with 100 or more employees to require their employees to be vaccinated, and/or tested, and wear masks. An organization of states, along with private nonprofit legal entities such as ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM persuaded the Supreme Court to halt the OSHA order, introduce a legal stay, and take the case for decision at the highest level. In this term, the Supreme Court will decide this COVID matter and that a vaccination, testing and masking among others. What, I wonder my fellow Americans, is your position on vaccination. Many well–meaning Christians have refused to be vaccinated for various reasons. Many more others have in fact received both COVID vaccinations (Pfizer, Moderna) and even the booster. The question is whether you or I, as a matter of conscious and personal decision (freedom) have the right not to be vaccinated. What do you think? These 9 individuals will tell us.And another one. There comes now a case CHRISTIAN EMPLOYERS ALLIANCE V. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC). There were two Biden Administration mandates which ordered (forced) nonprofit employers to pay for or perform gender transition surgeries and other treatments that violate their religious beliefs, no matter that so many of them held sincere beliefs that God created humans as biological male or female and that a person’s biological sex is immutable. But the EEOC went full speed ahead in an attempt to force the mandates upon religious employers, requiring them to pay for and provide health insurance coverage for gender transition surgeries. This case as well now comes before the Supreme Court in this term and these 9 fellow citizens will tell us what will be. If entities or individuals, especially doctors and surgeons, refuse to perform gender transition procedures on any patient, they can be punished with huge financial penalties, loss of federal funding and even the removal of their ability to practice medicine. What a world. And then there is another case pending. THE STATE OF TENNESSEE V. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION essentially states that women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field and biological men no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation should be allowed to so compete. Now these males, self–proclaimed females, are allowed to compete, and, so long as they identify as transgender, to not only compete on female athletic teams but also to use female showers, bathrooms and locker rooms. I find that simply unbelievable, don’t you? 6 men and 3 women, only 9 of We The People 340 million of us, will be told whether or not that is constitutional. And then there is COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS V. BIDEN. The College of the Ozarks, one good and strong Christian college, is suing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as it attempts to force religious schools to open dorm rooms and shared shower spaces to members of the opposite sex. This good college implores the Supreme Court that the government cannot strip a private faith–based institution of its constitutionally protected freedoms to recognize the strong biological distinctions between male and female. And then there is ARLENE’S FLOWERS V. STATE OF WASHINGTON. Arlene’s Flowers was originally owned by Barronelle Stutzman, who
Ep 101The Catholic Church and the Progressives
They are everywhere, these progressives. They are intent upon transforming society, even all of mankind. They are ready to attack anything traditional. They challenge the old order no matter where it is, including all things biological, and sexual, and male–female. Nothing is sacred or sacrosanct, especially anything which has to do with religion.They hate the notion of God. There is no such thing as a divine being, or Creator of the Universe, and most especially a special creator of mankind, male and female. If anything is traditional, conservative, you can be sure that sooner or later it will be under attack, change demanded and often radical change. The means justify the end, and if the end, an ultimate societal, biological and human progressive transformation, requires that the freedoms to differ, disagree or even discuss alternatives, true freedom of speech or belief must be eliminated, so be it. So much is under attack by these angry, aggressive, activists and they are determined to win no matter the cost. This radical, constructive, all encompassing and changing force occurs in religion as with anything else society holds dear. Progressivism arises in the German Catholic Church where there is open opposition to fundamental and traditional Catholic theology traditionally in place for hundreds and hundreds of years. German Catholic Bishops and lay leaders have petitioned Pope Francis to loosen the church’s rules on priestly celibacy and to permit the ordination of women as deacons. Such petitions are the latest in the German’s progressive drive for change no matter that Francis has warned that such moves if enacted could well split the worldwide Catholic Church.The draft statement from the German Catholic Bishops called on the Pope to allow Catholic Bishops around the world to ordain married men and to give already ordained Priests permission to marry without having to leave the priesthood. If any such changes were made, the Catholic Church would fundamentally change at its core and the progressives within the church would have scored a major victory. It will be interesting to see if Pope Francis bends and accommodates, which of course means a major and fundamental compromise to a radical once considered heresy.The German Bishops went further. They asked the Pope for permission for Bishops to ordain women as deacons. In the Catholic Church, that is a lower rank of clergy, lower than Priests. But women would be authorized to preach which the German Bishops find reasonable and many Catholics agree, especially those in Germany. And more. The German Synod is asking the Pope to permit women as deacons and as established members of the clergy to officiate at baptisms. That was once reserved strictly for Priests. Further, the Germans are asking the Pope for permission for women to perform weddings and to officiate at funerals. All such clergy functions have been prohibited to this point for women and only authorized by the Catholic Church for men. Pope Francis has turned down similar requests before and it will be interesting to see how he reacts this time around. There are those in the Catholic Church worldwide who believe that the discipline of celibacy for Priests is a real symbol of the orientation of life towards the Lord, embedded as they say within a long spiritual experience. Married to Christ for Priests is a hallmark for the Catholic Church. Even the Apostle Paul believed that one could tend to the things of the Lord better and with more singular devotion if a male Priest was not married. Many feel that celibacy however at this extreme level may have given rise in part to the sexual abuse and the pedophilia which has troubled the Catholic Church for years. Permission to marry would go far in ameliorating this problem. The German Catholic Bishops point out to the Pope that sacramental marriage, the union between one man and one woman, points to God’s love and unbreakable faithfulness towards His people. They indicate that God created Eve for Adam so that he would not be alone and that he would bear children. He created them male and female, no matter what the progressives say and for man and woman that was a good thing. So, there is a logical extension between that God–created act and the quality role that women should play in His service. The German Bishops point out that married men already can be ordained as Priests in some of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The Vatican also has allowed, they remind the Pope, the ordination as Priests of married men who formally served as Protestant Ministers but converted to Catholicism. Conservative Catholics remind the Germans that of the more than 400,000 Catholic Priests, the vast majority are celibate. Conservative Catholics including retired Pope Benedict XVI have warned that loosening the rules on clerical celibacy could undermine the church’s tradition and identity. That it surely could. It would also produce an extremely different priestly culture, lifest
Ep 100SCOTUS - The Supreme Court of the United States
We are, my fellow Americans, ruled by the grand total of:545 PEOPLE.545 PEOPLE! That includes the House of Representatives, 435 of us, the U.S. Senate, 100 of us, the Supreme Court, 9 of them, and of course the President. 545 PEOPLE RULE AMERICA.They tell us how to live. They make our laws. They choke us with regulations. They exercise control any and every way they possibly can. As much as possible, THE 545 ignore the states. They create agencies, and more agencies. They make special appointments and invest additional persons with power. They control the military. And, WE THE PEOPLE think we live in a democracy. We don’t. At best, functioning as our Founding Fathers intended this Country to do, we America are a REPUBLIC, a series of checks and balances, the power of our Country divided four ways between House, Senate, Judiciary (federal courts) and of course the President. If the right people are in office, true Americans, REAL REPRESENTATIVES of We The People, the United States of America is the finest government ever created by mankind.The Constitution of the United States created a Supreme Court. This court was empowered to create lesser courts and they created local federal district courts, and federal appellate courts to handle legal business before it got to the Supreme Court. Again, with the right people in office, the federal judiciary can function extremely well, dispensing real justice, constitutionally driven, fair decisions, with liberty and justice for all. There are, my fellow Americans as you undoubtedly know, 9 of them. They come and go. Some stay far longer than others. Some are appointed because they are brilliant jurists. Others because they are fair, impartial and constitutional. Still others are political appointees, put in office to serve a certain and specific cause (i.e., conservative). All make a mark, one way or another. There are 9 of them. Five, ONLY FIVE, United States citizens, men and women no different than you or me can make a decision which radically changes or deeply affects the lives of millions upon millions of people. FIVE! Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States resigns his position at the end of the current Supreme Court term. Justice Breyer has been a member of the Supreme Court now some 27 years. Breyer has been labeled a pragmatic liberal. That is, Breyer votes with the liberal–progressive block of the Supreme Court in every major decision, but at the same time he is sympathetic to law enforcement, not hostile to business and a great believer in the independence of the Supreme Court, in fact all judicial bodies. He was openly against the Democrat notion of packing the Supreme Court, that is increasing the number of justices from the current 9 to 15. But again, in every major decision, Breyer showed himself to be liberal in thinking and belief, and in interpretation of a constitution, progressive to the core. But Breyer was pragmatic, reasonably fair, and most importantly listened to opposing points of view. In light of the candidates who will arise out of the progressive, radical left to replace him, small wonder that many think the resignation of Stephen Breyer will indeed be a loss to the Supreme Court. The balance of power will not change. There are now 6 justices who are considered conservative and 3 liberal or progressive, including Breyer. His resignation will leave the court with but 2 liberal members, Kagan and Sotomayor and the same 6 conservatives namely Thomas, Alito, Roberts, Coney Barrett, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch. There are 6 males and 3 females. There is one black male justice, Clarence Thomas and no black females. In choosing a replacement, it seems as though President Biden is determined to play the race card. Biden has promised that he would appoint a BLACK WOMAN to the Supreme Court with his first nomination. As the Wall Street Journal stated, that is most unfortunate because that promise “elevates skin color over qualifications”. Indeed it does. It is most unfortunate for WE THE PEOPLE that race is a determining factor as high up as the United States Supreme Court. But sadly, that is America 2022. The two most discussed black female candidates who meet Mr. Biden’s demographic litmus test are Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court and Ketanji Jackson, now a member of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. If either were nominated, either one would be a progressive farther to left than Stephen Breyer.If justice is in fact colorblind it matters not who sits on the Supreme Court. If justice occurs as a result of the rule of law and is fully constitutional in justification, it matters not who sits on the Supreme Court. But it never is for human beings are involved. They have preferences and predilections. They have their very own points of view and the members of the Supreme Court invariably show their colors conservative or liberal, when all WE THE PEOPLE care about is whether or not the decisions they make are fa
Ep 99Love - Valentines Day
The greatest of all things is LOVE.The greatest, confirmed by the Apostle Paul of old, and agreed upon by the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and poets is:LOVELove is the best, even says Paul better than faith or hope.The Bible book 1 Corinthians 13 is Apostle Paul’s finest expressions of love by far, perhaps the finest writings in all of his letters. But even Paul acknowledges that there is no really complete and definitive definition of love. But Paul says what real love, ultimate love is, can only occur as a result of a meaningful, experiential, loving relationship with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of that comes eternally, but here and now, the longer, the deeper the relationship with HIM, the more the meaning of love becomes clear. That, says Paul, that relational love is ultimate reality.Love is good. In fact, good is defined by love. For no mere mortal can do good without love. One may intend, willingly so to live right, perhaps following the Ten Commandments and other great moral precepts. But that mere intention, the act of the will is not enough for it lacks the energy, the conviction, the power of real LOVE, total love.For as one poet has said:GOD SAYS TO US IN LOVE: I HOLD YOU IN MY MIND. I REMEMBER YOU. I HOLD ALL OF THE PIECES OF YOU. THE PAST WOUNDS AND THE PRESENT. AND IN LOVE, I KNIT THEM TOGETHER INTO THE PERSON I LOVE, THE PERSON I CREATED TO GIVE ME JOY:YOUMore. Love says Paul is patient. Love is longsuffering, not easily provoked. Love knows how to wait, fully observe, and listen, perhaps most importantly LISTEN. Love sees and hears the other. As the poet Thomas Merton said:THE BEGINNING OF LOVE IS TO LET THOSE WHO LOVE BE PERFECTLY THEMSELVES, AND NOT TO TWIST THEM TO FIT OUR OWN IMAGE. OTHERWISE, WE LOVE ONLY THE REFLECTION OF OURSELVES WE FIND IN THEM.In a world angry and hateful and growing worse, love is the only antidote, the ONLY! With his heart wide open, the Apostle Paul says love is KIND. The life of a lover is lived easy, gentle, avoiding confrontation and struggle wherever possible. Said the writer Sydnie Smith:IF YOU HAD NO ONE TO LOVE, YOU WOULD NEVER BE HURT. BUT YOU WOULD NEVER GROW. YOU WOULD NEVER VENTURE OUTSIDE OF YOUR OWN SELF-CENTERED NEEDS AND PERCEPTIONS. YOUR HEART WOULD NEVER BE CRACKED OPEN SO THAT GOD COULD ENTER IT. TO LOVE AND TO LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY IS TO TAKE RISKS, AND ESPECIALLY THE RISK OF REJECTION. BUT NOTHING ENERGIZES AND CLEANSES LIKE LOVE, NOTHING!Love, says the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 allows the lover to dwell on good things. The lover avoids gossip and negative language. Love stays silent in the face of false accusations as Jesus did. The communication of a lover is positive as Rod McKuen said:IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY, TELL THEM! THE TELLING UNLEASHES THE ENERGY AND THE POWER OF LOVE.Does it ever. It seems difficult for so many to say distinctly, clearly and unconditionally:I LOVE YOUFor that is the ultimate exposure, “a heart cracked open.” But those three words are perhaps the most powerful in the English language.Love then says Paul does not insist on its own rights or its own way. A loving person gets more out of giving, and caring than getting. To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others. So said the writer Francois Mauriac. Love is a miracle, miraculous in its absolutely powerful and transforming effect. That kind of giving, other-ness is truly the love of God at work which both constrains and motivates.Love says Paul, never keeps a moral balance sheet. Lovers take no account of the wrongs or evil done by others. Love forgives and forgets. It is difficult to forget but Paul says if you live in love, you can forget. That is so even for the most difficult object of love, an ENEMY. It seems hard to believe that we could love an Islamic terrorist or an angry political opponent or even a hateful family member or friend. We really can’t, but we can do so with the power of a loving God working within us who himself forgave us, forgot what was wrong with us and only in return, asked us to forgive others. The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said the following:WE ARE SAVED BY THE FINAL FORM OF LOVE, WHICH IS FORGIVENESS. FORGIVING AND FORGETTING ARE THE HIGHEST ACTS OF LOVE RESULTING IN OUR SALVATION. THERE WAS ONE YEARS AGO DRIVEN TO THE CROSS BY THE LOVE OF MANKIND PROVIDED IN HIS DEATH, THE LIFE AND THE LOVE WE LEAD. THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL AND FORGIVING FORM OF LOVE.Was it ever. The crucifixion of the Christ on the cross was indeed the ultimate act of love.Love protects and defends. It guards the hearts and minds of the young. It trains up children in the way in which they should go. It shows them the way of the Lord, the path of righteousness. It helps them to resist the devil who in the face of love will flee and not return.Love is loyal and always at work. The great writer St. Augustine said the following:WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE? WHY, IT HAS HANDS TO HELP OTHERS. IT HAS FEET TO HASTEN TO THE POOR A
Ep 98The Quit or the Call - The Great Resignation - Part 3
51% of all Pastors in the United States, 38% of whom are Evangelicals are seriously thinking about resigning the Pulpit. So says the Barna Group as it announced the results of its most recent survey of these Pastors. They have had enough, these Pastors say. They now suffer from serious stress. There is pressure everywhere and problems mount. They find themselves separated from in–person ministry to which they were called and the demand from a congregation, parishioners who now more than ever demand what they want and do not give back in return. They face in the church the new consumer culture which is all about what the person wants or needs. The church and the Pastor provide that, I get what I want or I move on. Congregation divisions and demands increase. The church has become, these disgruntled Pastors say, a place of convenience rather than conviction and commitment. Enough is enough, 51% of these Pastors say and they seriously intend to join the Great American Resignation and so many fully intend to:QUIT THE CALL.They have lost, these Pastors have, passion for the ministry. The original motivating purpose has been tarnished. The sense of mission, GO YE and preach the Gospel the original motivating force is simply not there. Any control, the setting of priorities now becomes so very much so the decision–making of the Board of Directors and of course the congregation itself. The Pastor, once the leader of the church, now becomes the follower. The institutional church becomes more institutional, structured, changed. The still small voice of the Holy Spirit calling and leading becomes muffled, and the ears to hear which heard the original calling no longer do so.The result for them BURN OUT. The mind becomes dull and the renewal, the transforming of that mind promised and required by scripture through the work of the Holy Spirit wanes. Heart and soul lose passion. The body weakens and says the Pastor, it is time to move on. The CALL once so clearly heard is replaced by the mentality and the waning spirituality of THE GREAT QUIT:THE GREAT RESIGNATION.To some extent, that can be understood. Think of the calling of the Apostle Paul. This ardent, persecuting Pharisee when radically changed on the Damascus Road found his new life ship–wrecked, his body beaten and persecuted, imprisoned, hated, betrayed by so many in whom he placed confidence and eventually beheaded by the Roman Emperor. In spite of all of that, Paul never quit. He knew who he was, what he was called to do and the life that Christ of Glory expected. I know a very few Pastors who have ever had that kind of Christian persecution. What prompts THE QUIT today is nothing like it was in the time of Paul.Even our Lord, Jesus Christ wanted to quit. Recall His prayer in Gethsemane where he asked His Father to let this cup, the coming crucifixion and brutal death pass from Him. Let me move on, let me continue my ministry, change your mind and my priorities, FATHER. But, no way. But then, He knew what He had to do, that for which He was called, that for which He was sent and in loving compliance, He prayed to the Father:BUT, NOT MY WILLBUT YOUR WILL BE DONE!If the Apostle Paul was attempted to quit, or even thought about it, and if the Lord of Glory not only thought about it but proposed it, so it is natural for any of us, Christians and called, to suffer a certain amount of BURN OUT and wish to change, to quit. We can be tempted to resign the Great Calling (the Devil’s work) and give up, a temptation of 51% of current Pastors. That temptation grows as the Pastor loses leadership, control, the ability to say NO. As priorities change and demand, pressure and stress increased, that Pastor and that original commitment to Christ, change as well, wane and suffer the lose of love and passion. But these Pastors, these Christian leaders must get away. They need to be RENEWED. They need time alone with the Holy Spirit, in prayer and meditation, the renewing of the mind and the spirit, and the relaxation and pleasure of the body. Jesus went to the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. He was both tempted and strengthened. But He was made better by the experience for the incredible ministry He undertook. He withdrew from the crowds in the course of the ministry when their demand was too much. Even separated from his disciples from time to time as they so often became sources of annoyance. In prayer, in fasting, and in feasting, HE was constantly about the business of RENEWING. He always knew who He was and what His purpose, His calling as the man from Galilee would be. He never swerved, changed or ever thought about THE QUIT. If you are called, truly called and you know that call, and you QUIT THAT CALL, you can never be content, fulfilled from that point forward if you QUIT THE CALL. Women who are called to be mothers, an incredibly high calling, can never QUIT MOTHERING, never. If you are called to be lawyer, accountant, plumber, truck driver, if you abandon that c
Ep 97The Quit or the Call - The Great Resignation - Part 2
To be called of God to the Pastorate may be perhaps the highest calling. It is an honor, a privilege, a leading, a CALL for a lifetime of very special service to Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of Glory. It is a call from which anyone, having put the hand to the plow, should never turn back:SHOULD NEVER QUIT.But then came a disturbing survey conducted by the respected Barna Group and its President David Kinnaman which found through its survey that:HALF OF U.S. PROTESTANT CLERICS CONSIDER LEAVING PULPITIf that survey is accurate, 1 out of 2 Protestant Pastors in the United States, 1 OUT OF 2 are considering resigning from the pulpit. Not the church, but the pulpit itself, the calling to be a Pastor. That is a startingly and disturbing fact, is it not, again assuming it is accurate. 8.7 million Americans resigned their jobs in August and September. If 1 out of 2 Protestant Pastors do in fact actually resign, that would indeed be:THE GREAT SPIRITUAL RESIGNATION.WHY? The survey says that a major contributor is the PANDEMIC. That says President Kinnaman of THE BARNA GROUP became for Pastors a game changer. Congregations wore masks. They were required to comply with Social Distancing requirements and remain six feet apart. Congregations were subject to testing people. In some states, in–person church services were prohibited. Many churches and Pastors were, according to their leaders, persecuted and unfairly treated, such has occurred so often in California, New York, New Jersey and other states. The COVID scare caused many parishioners to avoid church, not to go in–person and be content with things on–line or with other in–person substitutes. It was indeed a dark day for that institution, that place where those who sought to worship Jesus Christ once gathered. As a result, so many Pastors, drawn to personal ministry, experienced a deep and disturbing sense of ISOLATION. The spirit of the live church could never be replicated on–line, never. There was no live singing, no praise. No choirs to thrill the hearts of those in the pews. There were no spiritual hugs. No personal sharing. The internet, said so many Pastors, conveyed mechanical words and pictures only without sensory experiences. It was for them a dark and sterile day for the church. Pastors, who formerly felt the working of the Holy Spirit now found themselves unavoidably becoming ON–LINE CONTENT CREATORS and in addition, VIDEO PRODUCERS for which many were not trained nor motivated by. The content so often was missing spiritual dynamic. The spirit, the soul, the sensory experiences of the live church at work was missing and could never, ever be replicated virtually and on–line. Even as much of the spirituality of the institutional church was missing, so it was in the hearts and souls of so many Pastors. It was not, they felt, the ministry to which they were originally called. That gave rise to this newfound SENSE OF ISOLATION, even in adequacy and led to very tangible feelings of deep desire for resignation. They began to lose the commitment which the original twelve disciples of Jesus Christ had. They began to lose the NEVER QUIT spirit of the DAMASCUS ROAD ENCOUNTER OF APOSTLE PAUL. The virtual world of ministry, according to the Barna survey was not acceptable to as many as 1 out of 2 Protestant Pastors. They were called, they said, to live pulpit ministry and not to become TV–stars and actors. There was also the ever–rising financial requirements of the institutional church. Many Pastors had little business experience and no aptitude FUNDRAISING. But church budgets increased, and did so dramatically. The costs of running the ministries and maintaining the facilities of the institutional church continued to grow to the point where the demand for finances, for fundraising became a major priority of a Pastor’s job description. More demand was made on regular timing. In addition, fundraising occurred for the expansion of church ministries and special projects, especially missionary endeavors. As the church grew, so did the demand for larger and better facilities, current and state of the art. Those financial demands dulled the spiritual vitality of the Pastors. Big was better. Size mattered. The financial changes were radical and in the minds and hearts of so many Pastors, made ministry that much more difficult.There began to develop what the Barna Group surveyed called the:CHURCH CONSUMER CULTURE.Even as in the economic world the consumer ruled, and what the consumer wanted or demanded was the way things work, so it began to be the same with the church. So many congregants came to church to GET MORE THAN GIVE. That parishioner became demanding, requiring catering to wants and needs, much more theologically critical, running the church with proactive Boards of Directors making decisions which so often conflicted with the CALLING of the Pastor. CATERING became more prevalent than CONVICTING. And:ME BECAME MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIM!Divisions came so often. Co
Ep 96The Call or the Quit - The Great Resignation
FOLLOW ME!That’s all that was said. No more. All HE had to say was:FOLLOW ME!That was indeed one of the most powerful CALLS ever. HE never gave them time to think about it. Or to pray about it. Or to talk to family or spouse about it. HE said follow me and they did. That call went to fishermen Peter and Andrew. They dropped their fishnets and followed HIM immediately. HE told them that they would fish for fish no more. Rather, HE would make them:FISHERS OF MEN.From that point forward, their life’s CALLING was radically different, RADICALLY!That very same call went to James and John. And, like Peter and Andrew, they heard that CALL and they followed Him. The commitment was instantaneous, IMMEDIATELY. They knew, in their heart of hearts, the deepest recesses of their humanity and spirituality, they knew who HE was.They knew what the CALL meant and without the slightest hesitation, they:FOLLOWED HIM!That very same FOLLOW ME, that call of a lifetime went to eight more so the twelve men were radically transformed and all twelve became forevermore:FISHERS OF MEN.They knew instantly who He was. Can you begin to imagine what it would have been like for you, had you been there, to be confronted by Jesus of Nazareth, by the Christ of Glory, in His presence His eyes fixed upon you, the incredible physical presence of His person, His personality, His overwhelming demeanor, the power of the man enveloping you and with all of that, to hear those words:FOLLOW MEWere mentally, emotionally and spiritually transforming, utterly transforming, never were they to be the same again. NEVER. For them, that was indeed the ultimate born again experience. That call would never again to allow them to go back, return to what they were, never allowed them to quit, forever one with Him. Every true servant of the living Christ, Jesus of Nazareth has that kind of call. The circumstances are of course different but the message, the power, the meaning are the very same. If you are called by Jesus Christ, TRULY CALLED, you will never be the same. You will never have any doubt about what HE wants you to do. If you are truly called, especially to the ministry, especially as a Pastor, especially as the leader of HIS people, if you have once put your hand to the plow, and cultivated spirituality as He commands, you can never go back, you can never look back. YOU CANNOT QUIT! And then there were Saul. A committed, zealous even fanatic Pharisee was he. This Saul was about the business of persecuting these radical, newly born so–called Christians, serious threats to Judaism. Saul had no problem persecuting and killing, none at all. Out he went on the DAMASCUS ROAD in pursuit of these newly born heretics. Then came the overwhelming light of the Christ of Glory. And the most convicting words Saul ever heard:SAUL, SAUL, WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE ME?Do so no more. And come and:FOLLOW MESo that my people you once persecuted will now become your new spiritual brothers and sisters. No more Saul! Now was born again PAUL, an apostle, a servant, a bond servant, a slave as he called himself to his newly found Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of Glory. No conversion before or since was ever like that one. NONE. This Pharisee was called, and with a call like that, it would be forevermore impossible for Saul now Paul to ever quit, to go back, FOREVER CHANGED!For Paul, from now on, FOR HIM TO LIVE IS CHRIST! This Christ he met on the Damascus Road was now his whole life. No matter the hardships, or difficulties, or sufferings, this Paul belonged to Him body, mind and spirit. Paul found a new power which produced for him a new perseverance, a new commitment, a new passion. This new person, transformed, born again, committed his whole new life to:THIS ONE THING I DO.One thing and one thing only. From that point forward, everything Paul did was to obey the command:FOLLOW ME.Follow me. There was no call like that. So powerful, transforming and life–changing. Never would Paul be able to think about changing course, or QUIT or give up no matter the suffering. Paul was about the business of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of Glory forevermore. The twelve disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were confronted by His person, His incredibly powerful presence. Their lives were transformed by two words:FOLLOW ME.Paul was confronted by the heavenly light, the bright light of the Christ of Glory and His presence. Those conversions, those incredible spiritual changes were dramatic, clear and convincing. We on the other hand, never having seen but still believing met HIM having heard His STILL SMALL VOICE in many different ways. Even as Paul was all things to all men to reach as many as possible, so today there are so many ways, methodologies, means and persons, especially persons, which present us with the transforming, powerful love of Christ. How grateful we should be for the action and activity of THE HOLY SPIRIT, who continually agitates, convicts and speaks to us in many different ways in th
Ep 95MARTIN LUTHER KING - RACE AND MORE
It was the shot heard round the world.Martin Luther King, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4 in 1968 by James Earl Ray, a crazed racist. Dr. King had begun to emerge as the face, and more importantly the voice for America and even the world over for racial equality. King was an eloquent spokesman, learned academically, Christian in belief and determined to make a difference. He would never know the difference he would make.The assassin’s bullet, deadly and accurate, was the beginning in many ways of a new awareness of racial inequalities primarily black and white, but really more than that. It was perhaps the beginning of a new consciousness, a new awareness of differences, diversity where all right-thinking men and women, of good faith, colorblind and Constitutional would begin to learn a new respect for each other and learn how to build different and better relationships. They would learn that the color of one’s skin mattered not, but only the content of one’s character, as Dr. Martin Luther King so eloquently said.The King assassination triggered a new Constitutional awareness of equality. All men and women says this precious document and of course words framed in our Declaration of Independence, are created equal, and each, EACH ONE has the Constitutionally guaranteed right to:LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESSWe the American people have heard those words over and again, perhaps too many times for them to be the living, life-guiding words they were meant to be. Equality between black and white existed on paper only. That was the problem. Frederick Douglass, the former slave in America eloquently stated the real problem:“THERE IS NO NEGRO PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM IS WHETHER OR NOT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE LOYALTY ENOUGH, HONOR ENOUGH, PATRIOTISM ENOUGH, TO LIVE UP TO THEIR OWN CONSTITUTION.”What we the American people had lost or perhaps never had was a loyalty, a faithfulness to our very own Constitution and Declaration of Independence. We had forsaken Constitutional commands and gone our own way, accepting slavery, injustice and inequality. We had lost our honor, our dignity as human beings and we saw too many people of color as UNEQUAL.We had lost our desire to LIVE UP to our very own Constitution and that disloyalty, dishonor, lack of patriotism and courage to live up to our Constitution was the real problem, the real cause of:RACISMIn fact, we the people had become unspiritual. We had failed to recognize that equality was divinely inspired, required and built as a fundamental precept into our Constitutional rights. The right of equality, and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness was divine, inalienable, unconditional and it was un-American, un-Christian not to understand and LIVE UP to that great command. We had lost our way. Martin Luther King attempted to point us back, encouraged us to GET BACK to our roots, the fundamentals of America and begin anew to:LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELFWe made progress as a people. We abolished slavery. We began to learn how to live together, work together, forge bonds with one another although the progress was slow, and often painful. So slow, in fact, that it birthed the message of Martin Luther King in 1968. We listened to this eloquent champion of civil rights, equality and we respected not only his oratory, but the core and substance of his message. And, more progress was made even after his assassination. His ways were peaceful but many arose who chose violence as the answer, antidote to anger. We saw the rise of the Black Panthers and other aggressive, militant entities determined to get even and not necessarily get equality. But there were, in the day of Martin Luther King calm, still voices working, hoping, enduring and believing, like the NAACP and perhaps like the church itself. Martin Luther King was pastor, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. Churches, black and white adopted his message and proclaimed the Constitutional truth of equality. We listened, inched forward, painful progress but real, nonetheless. Churches became mixed, neither black nor white but for all persons regardless of color. Men and women, previously distant, became one in the love of Jesus Christ. That love grew relationships and destroyed the barriers of misunderstanding. It was the dawn of a new day where race relations were BORN AGAIN.Something better was on the way.Jesse Jackson, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a disciple of Martin Luther King, took over. He soon, however, many thought, lost the King vision of peaceful resistance and progress stalled. Suspicion and untrust ruled when there should have been new understandings. Other leaders, black and white did perhaps some good but it seemed as though the fundamental, underlying animosities continued to exist. It took action by individuals, by right-thinking private entities, by men and women one-on-one to begin to forge new relationships, new understandings, constantly chipping away at racism. It seemed a nev
Ep 942022 THOUGHTS - THE GREAT NEW YEAR
We end 2021, a year which so many of WE THE PEOPLE would love to forget. It was a hard year, this COVID year. Information, advice, and of course regulations and requirements seem to change weekly, if not from time to time daily. Our economy, the American economy, suffered greatly 2019. Businesses closed, jobs went away, and unemployment skyrocketed. We witnessed both years the rapid rise of Cancel Culture, Critical Race Theory, the so–called 1619 Project, and a growing trend towards socialism, higher taxes and the curtailment of certain freedoms. 2019–20 was a very difficult time in American history and many of the difficulties remain. America, its freedoms, and democracy were attacked from so many different sources and so many different people. Inevitably, 2022 will be a challenging year but, my fellow Americans and especially my fellow Christians, it will be a great year for patriotism and real Christianity born again, energized meeting every challenge as God would have it. I am ready, my all on the altar for God and Country, for Jesus Christ and for America, privileged and delighted to be alive and in service, and I hope you are too. So, LET US GIVE THANKS. Scripture tells us to give thanks for EVERYTHING. That is especially so for the life that we can live, no matter its hardships, our personal difficulties or economic hardships. In everything, says the Apostle Paul, give thanks, thanks for the good and the bad. No matter what it is the way and the will of God and we should understand and accept that. Most of all, says Scripture, we should give thanks 2022 for the UNSPEAKABLE GIFT which God has given us, namely Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God for this savior of the world. May He be real to you 2022 like no year before. The Apostle Paul thanks God for you, and so do I. You have listened to and supported the Crawford Broadcasting Company, its stations, its hardworking employees, its dedicated Christians and patriots, and we, all of us, THANK YOU WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.Count your blessings and be happy for them. Be grateful to God for health, family, friends, for loved ones and no matter your circumstances, know how blessed you are in sickness and in health, in tribulations and triumphs, in joy and sadness, blessed you are as God works His will in your life. And all things work together for good to them who love God. So, live well 2022. The Christ of Glory told us that HE came that our joy might be full. Therefore, enjoy life and live life joyfully. Be happy. Have fun. Laugh a lot. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. Think positive. Think, says the Apostle Paul on those things which are GOOD. Have FUN. Concentrate on the bright and light side of life. Christ came to give us life MORE ABUNDANTLY. Enjoy the abundance of life in 2022 like no year before.And LOVE. Now says Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 abides faith, and hope, and love. But the greatest of these, the greatest of anything and everything is:LOVE.Enjoy it like never before. Share it. Talk about it. Tell others you love them. The love of Christ transforms. Claim it for your life like never before. Even as the love of Christ transforms, your love can also make a difference in somebody else’s life.Remember the great Commandment, confirmed by Old Testament Prophets and further confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ himself:THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH AND THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. That is the first and the greatest Commandment. So the best of life is to love God, then to love your neighbor, but always remember, NEVER FORGET that you should:LOVE YOURSELFAs this great Commandment states. The greatest love is threefold, God, neighbor and self. It is not enough to love God and to love your neighbor only. You must love yourself for God has made you and given you the opportunity to live and serve. Nothing, no matter how bad or negative, can ultimately matter if all three loves are part of your life. YOUR LIFE MATTERS. Make it count for all things good and right more than ever in 2022.BE GRATEFUL FOR AMERICA. No matter our problems, some of which are indeed significant, we are privileged by our God to live in the greatest Country in the history of mankind. We yet remain a democracy, a republic, constitutionally governed even though all are under serious and severe attack. Cherish the freedoms you have including and especially religion, freedom of speech, freedom to worship as you well, freedom of press and the ability to write and publish, freedom of petition to the government, and freedom of assembly anywhere for any purpose. Protect those freedoms 2022 like never before. They are attacked everywhere by so many. And evil, devilish ever–growing number of peoples and entities are determined to erode or eliminate these precious constitutional, American freedoms. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN! Be American citizen–patriot 2022 more than ever before. STUDY THE SCRIPTURE. Really study it. Spend time with it. Take biblical classes. Dialogue
Ep 932022 Thoughts - The Great New Year
We end 2021, a year which so many of WE THE PEOPLE would love to forget. It was a hard year, this COVID year. Information, advice, and of course regulations and requirements seem to change weekly, if not from time to time daily. Our economy, the American economy, suffered greatly 2019. Businesses closed, jobs went away, and unemployment skyrocketed. We witnessed both years the rapid rise of Cancel Culture, Critical Race Theory, the so–called 1619 Project, and a growing trend towards socialism, higher taxes and the curtailment of certain freedoms. 2019–20 was a very difficult time in American history and many of the difficulties remain. America, its freedoms, and democracy were attacked from so many different sources and so many different people. Inevitably, 2022 will be a challenging year but, my fellow Americans and especially my fellow Christians, it will be a great year for patriotism and real Christianity born again, energized meeting every challenge as God would have it. I am ready, my all on the altar for God and Country, for Jesus Christ and for America, privileged and delighted to be alive and in service, and I hope you are too. So, LET US GIVE THANKS. Scripture tells us to give thanks for EVERYTHING. That is especially so for the life that we can live, no matter its hardships, our personal difficulties or economic hardships. In everything, says the Apostle Paul, give thanks, thanks for the good and the bad. No matter what it is the way and the will of God and we should understand and accept that. Most of all, says Scripture, we should give thanks 2022 for the UNSPEAKABLE GIFT which God has given us, namely Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God for this savior of the world. May He be real to you 2022 like no year before. The Apostle Paul thanks God for you, and so do I. You have listened to and supported the Crawford Broadcasting Company, its stations, its hardworking employees, its dedicated Christians and patriots, and we, all of us, THANK YOU WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.Count your blessings and be happy for them. Be grateful to God for health, family, friends, for loved ones and no matter your circumstances, know how blessed you are in sickness and in health, in tribulations and triumphs, in joy and sadness, blessed you are as God works His will in your life. And all things work together for good to them who love God. So, live well 2022. The Christ of Glory told us that HE came that our joy might be full. Therefore, enjoy life and live life joyfully. Be happy. Have fun. Laugh a lot. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. Think positive. Think, says the Apostle Paul on those things which are GOOD. Have FUN. Concentrate on the bright and light side of life. Christ came to give us life MORE ABUNDANTLY. Enjoy the abundance of life in 2022 like no year before.And LOVE. Now says Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 abides faith, and hope, and love. But the greatest of these, the greatest of anything and everything is:LOVE.Enjoy it like never before. Share it. Talk about it. Tell others you love them. The love of Christ transforms. Claim it for your life like never before. Even as the love of Christ transforms, your love can also make a difference in somebody else’s life.Remember the great Commandment, confirmed by Old Testament Prophets and further confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ himself:THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH AND THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. That is the first and the greatest Commandment. So the best of life is to love God, then to love your neighbor, but always remember, NEVER FORGET that you should:LOVE YOURSELFAs this great Commandment states. The greatest love is threefold, God, neighbor and self. It is not enough to love God and to love your neighbor only. You must love yourself for God has made you and given you the opportunity to live and serve. Nothing, no matter how bad or negative, can ultimately matter if all three loves are part of your life. YOUR LIFE MATTERS. Make it count for all things good and right more than ever in 2022.BE GRATEFUL FOR AMERICA. No matter our problems, some of which are indeed significant, we are privileged by our God to live in the greatest Country in the history of mankind. We yet remain a democracy, a republic, constitutionally governed even though all are under serious and severe attack. Cherish the freedoms you have including and especially religion, freedom of speech, freedom to worship as you well, freedom of press and the ability to write and publish, freedom of petition to the government, and freedom of assembly anywhere for any purpose. Protect those freedoms 2022 like never before. They are attacked everywhere by so many. And evil, devilish ever–growing number of peoples and entities are determined to erode or eliminate these precious constitutional, American freedoms. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN! Be American citizen–patriot 2022 more than ever before. STUDY THE SCRIPTURE. Really study it. Spend time with it. Take biblical classes. Dialogue
Ep 92Christmas - The Greatest Old Story Ever Told
With God, all things are possible. ALL THINGS!Even an event like THE VIRGIN BIRTH. Some 2,000 years ago, an angel was sent by God to the tiny town of Nazareth in the Galilee area. The area was small, the inhabitants few and a popular saying of the day was:CAN ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF NAZARETH?Perhaps not before, but after the visit by the angel Gabriel to an unknown Mary, from Nazareth would come the Savior of the world.Mary the virgin was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The angel Gabriel said to her:GREETINGS, YOU WHO ARE HIGHLY FAVORED! THE LORD IS WITH YOU.Gabriel went on to say:DO NOT BE AFRAID, MARY. YOU HAVE FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD. YOU WILL BE WITH CHILD AND GIVE BIRTH TO A SON. YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS.HE WILL BE GREAT AND WILL BE CALLED THESON OF THE MOST HIGH.THE LORD GOD WILL GIVE HIM THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID AND HE WILL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER. HIS KINGDOM WILL NEVER END!And, rightly so, Mary was troubled and she said to the angel:“How will this come about since I am a virgin?”To which the angel responded:THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME UPON YOU AND THE POWER OF THE MOST HIGH WILL OVERSHADOW YOU.So the Holy One to be born would be called the SON OF GOD.The natural man scoffs at angels but the spiritual man knows that with God all things are possible, including angels. Mary, now with child, the Holy Ghost having come upon her, went to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, relatives, and when she arrived, Elizabeth knew of this Immaculate Conception and Elizabeth said to Mary:BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN, AND BLESSSED IS THE CHILD YOU WILL BEAR!Elizabeth knew that Mary would be the mother of her Lord and ours as well.So, the world was about to change because of that event in Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth would soon be born in Bethlehem of Judea and this Nazarene, this SON OF THE MOST HIGH would soon be known as THE SAVIOR, the Prince of Peace, the Christ of Glory. When Elizabeth had finished, Mary began her very own song of praise:MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORDAND MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR!FOR HE HAS BEEN MINDFUL OF THE HUMBLE STATE OF HIS SERVANT.FROM NOW ON ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL ME BLESSEDFOR THE MIGHTY ONE HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR MEHOLY IS HIS NAME!Such powerful praise and adoration this Magnificat of Mary was. Mary, the virgin, so humble in spirit, thought of herself as the HANDMAIDEN of the Lord, perhaps still puzzled as to why she was chosen to bear the King of Kings, but willing and obedient to do the will of God.And the Babe of Bethlehem grew within her. Fiancé Joseph, of the lineage of David, sought to put her away but again, an angelic message explained to him what had happened, foretold the birth of this Son and the instructions to him that His name would be Jesus. Thereafter, Mary would be wife and mother for Joseph. It is incredibly difficult to imagine how this man 2,000 years ago would react. Nothing like this in human history had ever happened before. He, Joseph was chosen to supervise and support the birth of the Savior of the world. That would be impossible for any man to comprehend but Joseph, obedient like Mary, accepted the angelic explanation and this divine drama proceeded. Surely, Joseph could see the remarkable changes in Mary. For those precious months, Mary’s soul glorified the Lord. She told all that her spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Surely that glorifying and rejoicing was well noticed, even participated in by Joseph. Mary, the humble servant of the Lord knew what great things God had done for her and she was perhaps the first to live in a brand new, revolutionary state of praise and worship. Soon, that would be available to all mankind.Then came the decree from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. Joseph, who belonged to the house and lineage of David therefore went to Bethlehem of Judea to register with Mary, since Bethlehem was the City of David. But the town was full and there was no room in the inn so that Mary and Joseph slept in a manger. And there, in that manger, Mary gave birth to a son and as a proud and loving mother, she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. Such were the humble circumstances of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Babe of Bethlehem, the Prince of Peace and the Savior of the world. AND THAT IS THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS! That birth of the Savior of the world is what we celebrate at Christmas! This rabidly secular world of ours wishes to de–spiritualize this event and take CHRIST OUT OF CHRISTMAS. We who believe must never let that happen but rather band together in glorious praise and worship to the Babe and especially to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let not, my fellow Christians, the secularists abandon the Christ of Christmas. So, Christ was born and there began the spreading of the Word:AND THERE WERE SHEPHERDS ABIDING IN THE FIELDSKEEPING WATCH OVER THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHTAND LO THE ANGEL OF THE LORD A
Ep 91Workers
Where, asks the Wall Street Journal, did all the workers go?Bidenomics has led to a labor shortage that is hurting the economy, the journal concludes. There are five million fewer Americans employed then before the pandemic lock downs. As many as three million have left the work force when closed, when virtual and remote succeeded in person, when radical change occurred almost everywhere in the work force, millions gave up, quit working and in effect retired.Of course, Covid and the new Delta Variant were blamed for almost everything. It seemed as though the mentality of America changed and changed radically in two short years. Some workers refused to work remotely or virtually. Others refused to go back to work, working in person, at offices and retail outlets and in enclosed spaces. That left employers “crying for workers” but they can not be found even when those employers are willing to pay more than before. In addition, those employers are willing to make accommodations not previously offered, such as working from home, more flexible work schedules and more. It seems as though leverage has shifted from the employer to the employee. Some statistics indicate that as many as 51% of all employers, actual or potential have openings they can not fill. It is just simply unbelievable how the world, economically and otherwise, has so radically changed in two short years. Why, ask economists, is this happening. What is causing the worker shortage? One factor is government and employer vaccine mandates. If you want to work, say government, its agencies and many employers, you must be vaccinated and fully vaccinated. Many states and school districts have also imposed vaccine mandates and as a result, ten of thousands of workers refuse to be vaccinated for personal reasons and consequently could not work. Millions continue to refuse vaccination for personal, medical or religious reasons, and employers refuse to hire them back and out of work they stay. The regular vaccination consists of two shots from both Pfizer and Moderna, only one from Johnson and Johnson which many workers refuse to get. Now comes the soft requirement for a booster shot, a third Pfizer or Moderna and a second Johnson which in time may well be mandated by governments federal and state, as well as employers. Any such requirement for a third shot will obviously reduce worker availability even further.And another reason for worker shortage. Says the Wall Street Journal:“Democrats have also made quitting an easier economic option.”Even though pandemic increased unemployment benefits ended in early September, there are still many other federal financed payments that don’t require work, including a $300 monthly allowance per child, food stamps and even rental assistance. Former workers, especially those at state or federal minimum wage levels, claim they really have no economic motivation to return to work. They can live just as well and receive just as much for not working. If there is no economic necessity, why bother.And a third reason why workers are not working. Inflation is on the rise and many think it will be long term and persistent. Fully at work, inflation may “tilt the scale” to leisure instead of work. Compensation, especially hourly earnings seem to be rising fast. But real wage growth AFTER INFLATION has been declining for many Americans. After two years, these former workers now prefer not to work, a life style with much more leisure and almost the same economically in terms of federal and state payments, and the considerable benefits still available. The lack of workers has clearly become a drag on the economy, slowing production and contributing to supply – side strains. Ships are backed up at ports in part because there aren’t enough workers to unload and transport the merchandise and goods. Labor and material shortages are delaying home building. Even so, the economy continues to grow but not nearly as much as it should be as the country emerges from the pandemic’s depths.The Biden White House and the Federal Reserve have deployed the Keynesian policy mix of government spending and easy monetary policy to boost demand which in turn has put considerable pressure on the supply side resulting in the lack of goods and raw materials critical to the economy’s continued growth. And of course, there is the ever – present promise of more regulations and higher taxes. Now, democrats want to add another $5 trillion in spending and more taxes that will do more of the same, exacerbate the existing problems and eventually become an incredibly serious drag on the economy. The American economy is on the one hand hopeful, showing growth signs but on the other hand, fraught with a very real and very negative downside. All of these economic factors will be most interesting as they affect politics 2022. Many predict a democratic rout as a result, while others seem to believe that these continuing government handouts will win the vote. These election