There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)
By the valley of weeping we come to Zion. One would have thought mourning and being blessed were in opposition, but the infinitely wise Savior puts them together in this Beatitude. What He has joined together let no man put asunder. Mourning for sin—our own sins, and the sins of others—is the Lord’s seal set upon His faithful ones. When the Spirit of grace is poured upon the house of David, or any other house, they shall mourn. By holy mourning we receive the best of our blessings, even as the rarest commodities come to us by water. Not only shall the mourner be blessed at some future day, but Christ pronounces him blessed even now.
The Holy Spirit will surely comfort those hearts which mourn for sin. They shall be comforted by the application of the blood of Jesus and by the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost. They shall be comforted as to the abounding sin of their city and of their age by the assurance that God will glorify Himself, however much men may rebel against Him. They shall be comforted with the expectation that they shall be wholly freed from sin before long and shall soon be taken up to dwell forever in the glorious presence of their Lord.
Presupposing God Enables Other Knowledge Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7; Psalm 36:9
Unless the being of a God be presupposed, there can no tolerable account be given of the being of anything.
EZEKIEL HOPKINS
Ritzema, E., & Vince, E. (Eds.). (2013). 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
The Lord Reveals Who Are On His Side 1 Samuel 24:12, 15; 1 Kings 8:32; 2 Chronicles 6:23; Job 42:7–9
Those who are most fervent to dispute are not always the most able to determine. But who are on his side, and who against him, our Lord in his good time shall reveal.
RICHARD HOOKER
Ritzema, E. (2013). 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[He] has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. – 1 Peter 1:3b
Scripture reading: 1 Peter 1:1-4
When people say, “I hope so,” they are typically speaking of a faint hope, or something not certain at all. But Christian hope, the hope of sojourners, is not like that. Though we do not yet see and touch everything we hope for in Christ, we have the blessing as a sure and certain hope. It is a living hope. We can think of situations where people’s hopes have died. Dead hope is not hope. It is terribly sad. A lot of people are going nowhere. And we need to pray that we may be deeply sympathetic to the hopelessness that surrounds us.
As sojourners, we have been given a living hope. It is a vibrant, thriving, lasting and certain hope. It is living because it comes from the living, thriving, loving, Blessed Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is so happy to be God, so thrilled to give life. He delights to pour out His abundant mercy.
He gives life to our dead souls! We who were dead in sins and trespasses, without hope and without God in the world, have been born again and given new life and a living hope. This blessing is sure and lasting because it is ours through the life of our resurrected Saviour, Jesus. It is because He lives that we come to share in the blessing and certainty of His life.
Remember, that in a world of darkness and hopelessness, we have been given a living hope. It is ours to enjoy and to share!
Suggestions for prayer
Is your hope alive? Ask God to give you great joy in the hope we have in Christ and to make us beacons of hope amidst the darkness. Pray earnestly for someone you know who is struggling with hopelessness, that you may encourage them in living hope.
Rev. John A. Bouwers is pastor of the Hope Reformed Church (URCNA) in Brampton, ON, where he has served since December 2017. He is married to Julie and they have been blessed with six children and twelve grandchildren. This daily devotional is also available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional.
How do you measure maturity? It is not a function of how old you are—society is dominated by multiple generations of immature adults who refuse to act their age. Maturity is tested by time, but it’s not a question of how long a person has lived. Rather, it’s determined by how wisely he or she lives. The same is true in the spiritual realm.
In the letter he wrote to the Colossians, Paul had to deal with a false teaching that scholars often refer to as “the heresy of Colossae.” This designation is due to the unique character of the teaching and the fact that it seems to have flourished only in that region. It was a combination of Jewish elements with ascetic and mystical practices—all connected by an incipient Gnosticism. Its supporters had managed to infiltrate the Christian churches in Colossae and probably churches of other cities located in the Lycus River Valley as well. We have no evidence that this sect settled in other places.
It seems that the appeal of this dangerous sect to the Christians was the promise made of fullness, perfection, and satisfaction in God by a certain knowledge (gnōsis) that had not been previously revealed by the ministry of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. This gnōsis involved Jewish practices such as circumcision, their dietary laws and their religious calendar, together with ascetic practices and mystical worship based on contact with the angels. We can deduce that the Christians at Colossae had begun to listen to the proponents of these ideas. Paul writes this letter in order to prevent them from fully adopting these teachings.
The Centrality of Christ
The central argument of Paul in the letter is that in Jesus Christ, Christians already have everything that the sect falsely offered: wholeness, fullness, perfection, and satisfaction in God. In other words, Paul responds to false teachers by presenting the sufficiency of Christ.
Paul’s argument is first presented from the person of Christ. He is “the image of the invisible God” (1:15) in whom, through whom, and for whom all things were created (v. 16). He is before all things; in Him all things are held together (v. 17). He is the firstborn from the dead who takes precedence over all things (v. 18). It pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell (v. 19), and through Him God should reconcile all things to Himself (v. 20). In Christ dwells the whole fullness of deity (2:9).
As a result of being united to Christ, believers have already received graciously from God perfection, wholeness, fullness, and satisfaction. The ultimate gnōsis of God is actually in Christ. He is the mystery of God, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2:2–3), something infinitely superior to the gnōsis offered by the false teachers.
The Superiority of Christ
The teaching of these teachers was based on subtle philosophical arguments. Among them was what Paul calls the “elemental spirits of the world,” a possible reference to spiritual, angelic beings who, according to Gnostic teaching, dominated the planets and other celestial bodies and filled the space (fullness) between men and God, functioning as mediators. Paul’s answer to this teaching is that in Christ dwells the fullness of deity bodily (2:8–9). Jesus Christ is God Himself incarnate as a man. There is no need for angelic mediators to reach up to God and reach perfection. Those who are in Christ by faith are already perfected (v. 10).
Similarly, requirements like the practice of the works of the law are unnecessary. Circumcision has been fulfilled through the baptism in Jesus’ name and is a superior circumcision (vv. 11–12). In His life, Christ fulfilled all the requirements of the law for His people. On the cross, He paid their debt (v. 14). The works of the law, such as dietary rules and the keeping of holy days, were like a shadow cast by the body of Christ, and once the body arrived, the shadow became unnecessary (v. 17).
Christ also triumphed over the principalities and powers, the angelic beings that, according to Gnostic teaching, dominated the basic elements of the universe (v. 15). Therefore, believers should reject the idea that it is necessary to worship the angels. Such teaching is the result of hallucinations of a sensuous mind (v. 18). In Christ, believers are dead to the “elemental spirits of the world” (v. 20).
The Sufficiency of Christ
And finally, the ascetic practices demanded by the false teachers as necessary to dominate sensuality and other sinful passions are useless. Actually, the ascetic rigor exhibited by the proponents of this teaching is self-worship or self-made religion. It has no power to stop the passions of the flesh (vv. 20–23). However, through union with Christ in His death and resurrection, believers can mortify the flesh and live for God (3:1–17).
Thus, Paul teaches the believers in Colossae that Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet all the needs of those who are His. Christ satisfies our thirst for wholeness. He satisfies our longing to know God, our deepest yearnings to be full. By daily communion with Christ through the means of grace, we find full satisfaction for all our needs. This satisfaction enables the Christian to serve God here in this world with a heart full of fervor and dedication. A happy heart in Christ empowers the believer to overcome sin and dedicate himself entirely to the service of his Lord and Redeemer.
This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.
One of John Ortberg’s popular books is titled “If you Want to Walk on Water, you have to get out of the Boat“. Although the title alludes to when Peter tried to walk on water (and succeeded, albeit briefly; (Matthew 14:22-33) this quote also applies to the apostles, just after Jesus ascended to heaven.
As Jesus “was taken up before their very eyes“, the apostles “were looking intently up into the sky” (Acts 1:9-10). Just before this, Jesus told them “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (v8) Yet after Jesus ascends apostles just stand there. How often do we do the same? God’s instructions are clear to us, but we just can’t seem to get going.
I can imagine the apostles were worried when Jesus left them. How would they survive without Him? They left their homes, jobs, and everything else behind to follow Him. And now He was leaving? But this is no excuse, and their lack of action prompts two angels to appear to them, who say “Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (v11)
The angels gave them the reason not to worry: Just as Jesus had been taken away, He will return. Luke’s gospel tells us how the apostles responded to the angels: “They worshipped [Jesus] and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” (Luke 24:52) Their confidence was restored by God’s promise, which is trustworthy and true. And this confidence prompted them into action!
The question is am I standing around, staring up at the sky? Or am I actively living out Jesus’ command to be witnesses to the ends of the Earth?
What’s holding you back from being an active witness? If you want to witness, you have to start witnessing! If your spiritual life lately has felt more like stargazing than navigating, it may be time to re-read the book of Acts and be inspired by the lives of some of the earliest Christian servants. I assure you that you are more ready than you realize, “for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” (Luke 12:12)
“I know the greatness of the Lord -that our Lord is greater than any other god.” Psalm 135:5 (NLT)
Dictionary.com defines “devotion” as “profound dedication; consecration” and “earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.” We know that devotion is our 24/7 way of being with God. At the same time, setting aside consecrated time daily to spend with God is my act of devotion; of showing God my profound dedication to Him. It is not a matter of habit or religious duty, but rather it flows out of love.
During this time before our Lord, our Heavenly Father becomes the central focus of our devotion. We worship Him, and only Him. We can come, not only because we love God, but also because we know that God loves us unconditionally. We can come without our armor. We can come expectant and with our hearts opened up to Him. From this central place of devotion, we can move out into the rest of the day, pointing our life towards our King.
What brings you today to spend time with our Lord?
Dear Father, I am devoted to You. May I center my day around You today, so that I can walk in the great Love You have for me.
We Have No Power of Our Own 2 Chronicles 20:12; John 15:5
We can have no power from Christ unless we live in a persuasion that we have none of our own.
JOHN OWEN
Ritzema, E. (Ed.). (2012). 300 Quotations for Preachers. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
All Our Peace in Enduring Suffering Hebrews 10:32–36; 1 Peter 2:19–20
All our peace in this miserable life is found in humbly enduring suffering rather than in being free from it. He who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the greater peace, because he is the conqueror of himself, the master of the world, a friend of Christ, and an heir of heaven.
THOMAS À KEMPIS
Ritzema, E., & Brant, R. (Eds.). (2013). 300 quotations for preachers from the Medieval church. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Sermon by David Fiorazo, Sunday June 27, 2021 Rough Transcript
I hope to convey a much-needed sense of urgency for the body of Christ today.
Ephesians 5:15-17 states,
So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
The Greek word for “time” denotes a fixed, measured, allocated season. Believers are to make the most of our time on this earth and live expectantly of His return. But along with the coming Kingdom, we necessarily must expect coming judgment.
Key Scriptures for today include Mark 13 and 1 Thessalonians 5. We’ll be looking at seasons, times, signs, and the wrath of God. Jesus often commanded His followers to watch; be alert, and understand the times. Because this was important to Him, it should be important to us as well.
He also rebuked the most educated and religious leaders of his day—the Judaizers —for their inability to discern the times. Not only was the long expected and predicted Messiah right in their midst, but they failed to “watch” what was going on around them.
In Matthew 16:2-3, He said to them”:
When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times?
Do we understand the signs today, the converging events on the world stage, and the cultural indicators that point to the Day of the Lord?
In a recent article, prophecy watcher, Terry James writes:
“Jesus knew that neglecting to “watch” would be a major symptom of apostasy at the end of the Church Age. He knew that people will be more and more caught up in the affairs of an increasingly sinful world the nearer history moves toward the Tribulation era.”
I’ll let you conclude what kind of church and culture we have today in America, the United States of Entertainment. Most would likely say we have failed to post watchmen on the walls and sound the alarms to the people of God over the last hundred or more years.
What Would Jesus Say to the Church in America Today? We can speculate. But we do know what He said to several churches in Asia minor just 70 years after His resurrection and the birth of the Christian Church.
In Revelation 2-3, Jesus told one church they were lukewarm, another had lost its first love, and one had a reputation for being alive but they were dead. How many churches today might fall into any one of these categories?
At least, if you’re a dead church or a silent church, you won’t have to worry about being hated or about persecution. Jesus said if you were of the world, it would love you. You also won’t have to worry about rewards in heaven or hearing, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”
Here’s part of what He said to the church at Sardis:
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:2-3
If it’s possible to strengthen what remains, it must not yet be hopeless. He told them to remember what they received and heard at first. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he passed on to them what he received from the Lord, then laid out the gospel.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 states,
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.
Watch out! Strengthen what remains before it’s too late!! Wake up!
Paul old the Christians at Rome:
Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Romans 13:11
Here, the Greek word for time views it as a period or era, not chronologically. Sleep refers to spiritual apathy and lethargy or disinterest in the things of God.
How much time do you think we have left before the return of Christ? How much time do you think you have left on this earth? Since we cannot possibly know for sure, shouldn’t we be living differently than we are now? Do we have a sense of urgency and are we passionate about the things of God?
Are we aware of the spiritual warfare and level of evil being unleashed in the world today? Are we speaking the truth & exalting Christ while exposing works of darkness (Eph 5:11)?
James Robison said:
“We must reject the thought that evangelism is to be separated from the importance of standing against evil. We weren’t saved just to escape this world and go to Heaven. Transformed people transform the culture while standing boldly against evil.”
Opinions and strategies differ within the church about influence; how to be life preserving, culture flavoring salt and light of Christ, but we need to have these discussions.
Let’s look at the Olivet Discourse from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 13.
Jesus predicted the coming destruction of the temple which prompted questions from the disciples about the end times. They asked Him:
“Tell us, when will these things come about, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you…” Mark 13:3-5
Do not be deceived. Another key and prophetic warning in this chapter is verse 13:
And you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 13:13
This endurance doesn’t produce salvation. What it means is perseverance during the troubled times that Jesus promised His followers. But in verse 19, notice he describes great tribulation in the future. Great, meaning a long duration, characterized by severe pressure and continual anguish.
For those days will be such a time of tribulation as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will again. 13:19 This is the Great Tribulation at the end of the age. Toward the end of the discourse, Jesus warns believers to be watchful yet again:
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 33 “Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. Mark 13:31-33
Jesus made a point to tell us only the Father knows the exact time.
Some of the signs described in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 include:
False prophets, wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, earthquakes, famines, (these are “merely the beginning” of birth pangs!), persecution, increased lawlessness, many people’s love growing cold, the gospel preached to all nations, Christians will be hated, there will be tribulation, verse 24 describes post-trib events, and it says only the Father knows the day or the hour.
So the chapter concludes with Jesus repeating His warning:
What I say to you I say to all: ‘Stay alert!’” [NKJ = Watch!] Mark 13:37
Judgment is coming. Are we warning others? Christ is returning – but this time He won’t appear as the Lamb of God. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah; the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
There are 19 uses of ”the Day of the Lord” in the Old Testament and 4 in the New Testament. Also referred to as the day of doom or day of vengeance, the N.T. calls it a day of visitation or the day of wrath. These are terrifying judgments of God.
There’s something we need to clarify about times, seasons, and future wrath poured out. Look at what the apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonian believers:
Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
Let us be alert! Again, there’s a reference to sleep or spiritual apathy.
Note verse 9 that “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ;” (5:9) Salvation is eternal life in Christ. That’s where we’re headed!
This mention of wrath seems to refer to God’s eternal wrath, not His temporary wrath during the tribulation period. There is some debate about this. Note the word “destined.” A few chapters back in 1:10, He rescues believers from the wrath to come. Great news!
But God’s wrath is quite destructive in the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation. After all, 1/2 of the world’s population dies before the half-way point. God’s wrath is unleased at the end of the 7 year tribulation period and also at the end of the Millennium. These are actually 1,000 years apart. Inquiring minds have wanted to know when this will occur.
Notice again the warning that Day could come as “a thief in the night.” It’s important to note here this phrase is never used in reference to the rapture of the church. The 7 year tribulation and the catching up of the saints are two distinct, separate events.
Also, don’t you notice talk of peace and safety today? This is sure to increase as Bible-deniers will ignore warnings and even some Christians will be ignorant of prophecy. Remember, false prophets most often forecast a bright, fluffy, positive future in spite of the imminence of God’s judgment.
Quickly note from Matthew 24:37-39,
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Take this as a warning to us today! Jesus emphasized here – not so much the extreme wickedness of Noah’s day, but on the people’s preoccupation with routine, mundane matters of everyday life. And judgement fell suddenly.
The most graphic expression of God’s holy wrath and hatred against sin, however, was when He poured out divine judgment on Jesus, His Son, on the cross.
5 Kinds of Wrath
Let’s look at five different kinds of wrath we see in Scripture.
Eternal wrath, which is hell, a final destination
Eschatological wrath, the final Day of the Lord
Cataclysmic wrath, such as the Flood and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Consequential wrath, the principal of sowing and reaping
The wrath of Abandonment, when God removes His restraint and allows people to go to their sins and live in them.
In Romans 1, it describes the fifth form of God’s wrath when He gives them over to a depraved mind. He has abandoned the wicked throughout history, allowing them to pursue evil; to sin and suffer the consequences.
This tragic example in Romans 1:18 seems all too familiar to us today in America. The level of judgment we are under is speculative, but here’s how Paul describes it.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. Romans 1:18-19
It’s quite clear this is not an impulsive outburst of anger by God nor is it aimed at people He doesn’t like. This action by the holy Lord of the Universe has been settled and is a determined response against sin by a righteous God. It’s not something He enjoys.
The Bible says the Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked which is why God so loved the world that He gave Jesus – to atone for sin once and for all.
Notice verse 18 also says His wrath “is revealed” from heaven. The word means “to uncover, make visible, or make known.”
God reveals His wrath in two ways:
Indirectly, through the natural consequences of violating His universal moral law; Directly, through His personal intervention
We also know from this verse God pours out wrath “against all ungodliness.” This indicates a lack of reverence, devotion, or obedience indicating a broken relationship with the true, living God.
Unrighteousness refers to the result of ungodliness; a lack of conformity to the character and law of God.
Finally, what does suppressing the truth mean? This is like a form of denial or defiance. Verse 19 indicates that we know better and that every person has a conscience. The Bible teaches that God planted evidence of His existence in the very nature of man by reason and moral law.
No excuses! Although the evidence from conscience, creation, and God’s Word is irrefutable, men choose to resist and oppose the truth by holding fast to their sin.
To sum up:
Wake up! Be alert, understand the lateness of the hour, don’t be deceived, redeem the time, strengthen what remains, warn others, and as Jesus said, “Watch!”
“One single object … [will merit] the endless gratitude of the society: that of restraining the judges from usurping legislation.” —Thomas Jefferson (1825)
The justices issued rulings upholding election integrity and free speech rights.
Thomas Gallatin
In what can best be described as a mixed term for the current U.S. Supreme Court, in its final decisions before closing out, the justices issued two strong rulings in support of federalism and privacy rights.
In arguably the hottest issue of the moment, voting rights and election fraud, the Court issued a 6-3 decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee upholding the state of Arizona’s recently passed election integrity legislation. The Court’s majority rejected the claims that Arizona’s law ran afoul of the Constitution and that it was designed to suppress the ability of minorities to vote.
Justice Samuel Alito observed, “Neither Arizona’s out-of-precinct rule nor its ballot-collection law violates §2 of the [Voting Rights Act],” and in fact “generally makes it quite easy for residents to vote.” Alito also wrote: “Having to identify one’s own polling place and then travel there to vote does not exceed the ‘usual burdens of voting.’ On the contrary, these tasks are quintessential examples of the usual burdens of voting.”
The Court agreed with the lower court’s contention that the DNC had failed to provide any substantive evidence such as records or statistical data showing how many people actually relied on ballot harvesting to vote, specifically within minority communities. In other words, the DNC had nothing to support its loudly voiced claim that eliminating ballot harvesting effectively suppressed minority voting. As Alito noted, “None of the individual voters called by the plaintiffs had even claimed that the ballot collection restriction ‘would make it significantly more difficult to vote.’”
Predictably, Democrats and the Leftmedia reacted to the decision with the usual hyperbolic hysterics of “democracy under threat,” falsely spinning the Arizona law as designed to limit voting rights. Joe Biden lamented, “After all we have been through to deliver the promise of this nation to all Americans, we should be fully enforcing voting rights laws, not weakening them.” That farcical framing is why his Department of Social Justice is suing Georgia, too.
Ironically, “enforcing voting rights laws” is exactly what the Arizona law does. Ditto for Georgia. This ruling serves to reinforce federalism — states’ authority to run their own elections and to set the rules for ensuring the integrity of the vote.
The second big ruling was in the case of Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta. With the same 6-3 split, the Court struck down California’s donor disclosure law for violating the First Amendment. The case was over California’s law mandating that nonprofit advocacy groups must provide a list of donors to state authorities. National Review explains:
Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta arose from the California attorney general’s office, mainly under Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra, trampling the First Amendment rights of nonprofit advocacy groups to the privacy of their donors. It was not a coincidence that California launched that initiative at the height of the Tea Party movement. Its draconian scope applied not only to California charities but to any nonprofit that solicited donations in the state — even Chinese dissident groups. In an age of cancel culture and ever-increasing digital surveillance, the Court found, the risks of harassment and reprisals “are heightened in the 21st century and seem to grow with each passing year, as anyone with access to a computer can compile a wealth of information about anyone else, including such sensitive details as a person’s home address or the school attended by his children.”
Even the Biden administration shied away from defending this one. Harris has yet to respond to the decision and likely will remain mum. After all, the trial revealed that Harris’s AG office “systematically failed to maintain the confidentiality” of donors and there was “ample evidence” showing that donors were exposed and suffered harassment, and that the law “demonstrably played no role in advancing the attorney general’s law enforcement goals for the past ten years.” In other words, it appears that the only reason Harris wanted the law was to gain access to donor information to be used for intimidation purposes when leaked.
The Supreme Court’s next term promises to be just as compelling as this last, with a challenge to Roe v. Wade looming on the horizon, all while Democrats increasingly move toward an effort to pack the Court.
A new TV ad tries to paint the Democrat Party as patriotic. Don’t believe it.
Douglas Andrews
In the headline of his column on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal’s Dan Henninger asked a question to which the answer seems obvious: Who owns the Fourth of July?
All Americans own it, of course, but many will choose not to celebrate it — at least not beyond claiming a free day off. And there’s a particular party affiliation common to the vast majority of those who won’t be celebrating our Independence Day: the Democrat Party. It’s been that way for some time. Take last year, for example, when, as Henninger writes:
In the weeks leading up to last year’s Fourth of July — since 1776 always a time of planning for patriotic parades — a significant slice of the U.S. political left decided the moment had arrived to deface statues and monuments dedicated to the country’s most revered figures. Among those hauled down or hammered were George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, Francis Scott Key, Christopher Columbus and Father Junípero Serra.
All were accused of racism of some sort. Indeed, the argument being made a year ago was that America was born not on the Fourth of July but in slavery in the early 17th century and that the country’s defining characteristic for 400 years had been systemic or structural racism.
The Democrats realize that they’re fast becoming the anti-America party — the party of kneelers, rioters, statue-topplers, and those who claim that our National Archives are imbued with “structural racism” because they laud “wealthy White men in the nation’s founding while marginalizing BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and other People of Color], women, and other communities.”
To this list we might also add American presidents who scold us by saying, “We must address what remains the stain on the soul of America,” and that the hate which prompted the Tulsa massacre “never went away,” and that “terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today.”
We’re not sure who’s putting words into Joe Biden’s mouth, but they’re clearly not the words of a Patriot.
Perhaps the Democratic National Committee senses the very real weakness in its party when it comes to patriotism, when it comes to loving this, the greatest country on earth. And perhaps that’s why it’s trotting out a 60-second TV ad that celebrates July Fourth — inasmuch as it’s able to celebrate it. The ad, for example, doesn’t use the word “Independence,” nor does it show even a fleeting image of our Founding Fathers, or of Independence Hall, or of the document for which the holiday is named.
As Henninger writes, it’s an ad “depicting a shoulder-slapping Joe Biden as the main reason Americans feel better than last summer.” It’s titled “America’s Coming Back,” and the end of the video features Joe and Jill Biden overlaid with those words and a new, more ironic word: “Together.” This comes from the party that endlessly drives us apart — over race, over income, over sex, over morals.
This is Joe Biden. The guy who didn’t say “boo” last summer when those on his side were wrecking our cities and defiling our monuments — indeed, when his own future vice president was actually encouraging the riots, saying, “They’re not gonna let up, and they should not.” In fact, the whole party spent the last year waging war on “systemically racist” cops and looking the other way as BLM and antifa thugs tore apart our cities.
Rather than address this rise in crime honestly, Democrats want to take away guns from law-abiding Americans. And last week, Joe Biden derided our Second Amendment while taunting us with fighter jets and nuclear weapons. “Independence,” indeed.
They’re the party of Critical Race Theory and “equity,” racist and Marxist ideas meant to divide Americans. They’re the party of open borders — a policy that mocks our immigration laws, floods our country with illegal migrants, costs many Americans their jobs, and drives down the wages of many others. They’re the party that turns a blind eye to the trafficking of children and the smuggling of drugs that devastate our communities.
They’re the party of destroying women’s sports and putting men in women’s locker rooms. They’re the party of forcing Catholic adoption agencies and convents to violate church teachings.
These are not the precepts and policies of a party that loves its country.
In his farewell address of 1796, George Washington warned his fellow Americans to “guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism,” and that “the name of American … must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”
And what better embodiment could their be of “pretended patriotism” than this 60-second spot, this desperate effort by the Democrats to claim some share of our Independence Day holiday, while at the same time denouncing the very country that it celebrates?
Real Patriots love this country, warts and all. And they honor its Founding Fathers, and its Constitution, and its Declaration of Independence.
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There are First and Fourteenth Amendment considerations, as well as the Civil Rights Act.
Brian Mark Weber
Just when we thought life had returned to normal, a sinister and dangerous virus is spreading through our social, academic, and political institutions. It threatens to leave the United States unrecognizable. But this isn’t another coronavirus. We’re talking about Critical Race Theory.
We know that those adhering to CRT are attempting to undermine our institutions and tear apart the fabric of our society. More than just being a divisive ideology, however, Dr. Carol Swain, former professor at Vanderbilt and Princeton universities, believes CRT provokes some serious constitutional questions. According to The Epoch Times, she says that “Critical Race Theory training, which pressures people not to say certain things, take a certain stance, or forces them into some segregated settings, may infringe on people’s constitutional rights and even violate civil rights laws.”
“[Whites] are blamed for setting up a system of systemic racism,” she said of CRT’s premise. “The demonization of a group of people because of the color of their skin is something that is discriminatory.”
As Swain puts it, “We’re not a country where it’s acceptable to bully and shame people because of the color of their skin.”
Yet in many schools and workplaces, CRT programs require students and employees to confess their “white privilege,” to participate in activities segregated by race, and to fear speaking out against it. Thus, CRT is a direct threat to the First Amendment, which protects free speech and association; the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, and disability.
Fortunately, some steps are being taken at the local, state, and federal level to stop the advancement of CRT. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas introduced a bill this week banning federal funding for CRT training in the workplace. In a press release, Cruz remarked, “The federal government has no right to force a political agenda onto Americans, especially one that aims to tear down our institutions and divide us based on race.”
The text of the bill also bans federal agencies from promoting ideas such as “one race or sex is inherently superior to another,” “the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist,” “meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist,” or “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.”
The bill further informs the public of the broader objectives of CRT, including its connection to Marxist ideology, its discriminatory nature, and its ultimate objective of destroying and replacing “Western Enlightenment Liberalism” with a “Marxist-influenced government.”
Finally, parents and even some teachers across the country are beginning to wake up and realize the impact of CRT on their children.
Loudoun County, Virginia, has made national headlines in recent weeks as parents battle a “woke” school board pushing CRT. Now, a Chicago middle school teacher has filed a lawsuit against her school district, alleging that, according to The Wall Street Journal, “teachers and students are required to participate in racially segregated antiracist exercises and that teachers are required to teach material depicting white people as inherently racist oppressors.”
The lawsuit claims that the district’s policies violate the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection and Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which, again, prohibits discrimination by race, color, or national origin in public schools.
Let’s hope the pushback against Critical Race Theory isn’t too little, too late. Clearly, the Marxist foundations of CRT are incompatible with our Constitution or a society that values freedom of speech and equal treatment of all citizens.
Those pushing CRT claim that it’s all about racial and social justice, but there’s no justice in using hate and racism to divide a country that’s come a long way since Martin Luther King Jr. challenged us to judge others by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
By charging another Trump associate, his political enemies reveal their rotten obsession.
Douglas Andrews
When, many years ago, the Democrats began to criminalize politics, their logic was simple. If ya can’t beat ‘em, charge ’em.
That’s certainly the case with their Ahabian quest to get Donald Trump. The Democrats have become downright monomaniacal about it, and we can only hope that it’ll be their undoing, just as it was for the ill-fated captain in Melville’s Moby Dick.
How can we tell that the Left is obsessed with Trump? Because it has been after him ever since he and Melania came down that escalator. And because, in its frustration at not yet having perp-walked its Bête Orange, it has been targeting his associates.
Take former U.S. attorney, New York City mayor, and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, for example. First, they raided his home, then they suspended his law license. And the mainstream media, for its part, peddled falsehoods about it.
Before Rudy, it was Paul Manafort and Roger Stone and General Michael Flynn. And yesterday, it was Donald Trump’s business enterprise and its 73-year-old CFO. As Fox News reports:
The Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court after being charged with fraud and tax crimes Thursday. The longtime CFO pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, which in the state of New York is the unlawful taking of funds or property valued at $50,000 or more and is punishable for up to 15 years in prison. The former president’s family business also pleaded not guilty to tax-related crimes, which included a scheme to defraud.
The Trump Organization was quick to respond:
Allen Weisselberg is a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who has worked at the Trump Organization for 48 years. He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President. The District Attorney is bringing a criminal prosecution involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing. This is not justice; this is politics.
It is politics. Or, as Donald Trump Jr. put it: “This is what Vladimir Putin does. … 3 million documents, countless witnesses, and hours of grand jury testimony, outside forensic auditors, this is what they come up with. They’re going to charge a guy who’s [73] years old on crimes of avoiding paying taxes on a fringe benefit.”
“This is banana republic stuff,” Trump Jr. continued, “and if our press was even a little bit intellectually honest, they’d be calling it that.”
Again, though, Donald Trump is the white whale, and everyone knows it. This includes National Review’s Andy McCarthy, who’s not impressed with the charges, and who wonders whether Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. and his fellow harpoon-chuckers are trying to get Trump reelected.
McCarthy calls the charges against Weisselberg “puny,” noting that they amount to little more than a failure to pay taxes on corporate perks such as cars and apartments. “If that’s all prosecutors have,” he says, “then they have nothing. Donald Trump is not being charged, nor are his adult children who are the business’s top executives.”
McCarthy also hits on the bigger point — the point that bears more directly on the long-term health of our republic: “[Trump’s assailants] are angering fair-minded people who can’t help but see a two-tiered society, with its two-tiered justice system, in which Democrats and the radicals with whom they sympathize have immunity, while no infraction by a Republican — and especially, a Trump supporter — is too trivial for a good drawing and quartering.”
The “Squad” of idiots and Demo leaders nationwide led the chorus.
Mark Alexander
The leftist Democrat Oakland California city council joined other crime-infested Demo urban centers across the nation this week by defunding $18 million from its police budget. Violent crime in Oakland is up significantly from this time last year when so-called “Black Lives Matter” celebrations were heating up — including homicide rates, which have doubled.
What could go wrong? Well, shortly after Oakland’s PD Chief LeRonne Armstrong ripped the council for the cuts, the media crew interviewing Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention, Guillermo Cespedes, at city hall, was robbed at gunpoint.
Responding to that colossal canard, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) made things clear: “Everybody knows it was Democrats who started this crazy, radical, extremist move to defund police. All the big city mayors that defunded their police, whether it’s New York, Los Angeles, Chicago — they’re all Democrats. … Speaker Pelosi just recently called police ‘stormtroopers.’ … You had one of her top lieutenants in Congress [say] police are inherently racist and need to be abolished. Now they’re seeing the dumpster fire they created. … They never admit they were wrong. They’re just going to try to blame somebody else.”
Senator Ted Cruz added, “Democrats now claiming it’s Republicans who want to defund the police is like an arsonist showing up at a fire and blaming the firemen, it’s like the Chinese blaming Americans for the Wuhan virus, and it’s like O.J. saying he’s going to help find the real killer.”
Fact is, Democrats in the House and Senate were the beneficiaries of the pandering congressional protagonists and Demo mayors nationwide, who led the defund-police chorus.
Of course, the congressional defund mantra was led by de facto House leaders Sandy Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Cori Bush (collectively known as “The Squad,” who started their anti-police crusade during last year’s summer of rage.
The loudest of those mouths, and it is quite a competition, is Cortez. What did Cortez say about defunding police? “Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools.”
Now she hysterically claims that concern about escalating crime is driven by “hysteria” over media reports. She insists, “I want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context.” She doubled down on her insistence that the hysteria must not distract from the efforts to defund police.
Second up in the loud-mouth category is islamist Ilhan Omar, the Jew hater. She declared: “What we are saying is the current infrastructure that exists as policing … should not exist anymore, and we can’t go about creating a different process with the same infrastructure in place. … Not only do we need to defund, but we need to dismantle and start anew.”
Third in the lineup is Rashida Tlaib, who said, “Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist. … No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”
Ayanna Pressley insisted she is “ready to continue the systemic work necessary to radically reimagine a system of public safety in our country that finally censures the dignity and humanity of all.” She declared, “Yes I support the defund movement.”
And last, Cori Bush says, “Defunding the police isn’t radical, it’s real. … I am for defunding the police.”
Notably, each of these Demo reps have paid thousands for their own personal security, compliments of taxpayers. Cortez shelled out $5,000 per month.
There was no collective condemnation of their defund-police advocacy by their Democrat congressional leaders, or objections to all the Demo mayor defund initiatives. Their silence was deafening.
Of course, other key Demos signed on to the defund movement but stayed in the shadows. Joe Biden affirmed “reallocation” of policing resources. Kamala Harris also expressed her support for reallocating police funding, saying, “We have to reimagine public safety.” Their urban center mayors defunded tens of millions from police budgets.
In his national address on crime last week, Biden attempted to lie his way out of Demo responsibility for the violence and carnage. But all the evidence leads right back to his socialist Democrat Party. Clearly, Demos are attempting to tone down their defund rhetoric while keeping that agenda on track.
As former prosector Andrew McCarthy notes, “Even energetic media revisionism will not be able to help Democrats in the short run. They are stuck with their “defund the police” rhetoric, and they will be hurt by it…“ But he cautions: “Over the long haul, though, the battle is not going to be about defunding the police but defining the police. Republicans should be against funding the progressive vision of law enforcement, which would give the country what it has given Democrat-run cities: non-enforcement and rising crime.”
The fact that anyone is actually questioning who advocated for defunding police departments and, consequently, who is responsible for the surge in violence is asinine.
As for Biden’s latest excuse for a “crime bill,” it’s worth noting that the last major Democrat crime bill was the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and soon thereafter Democrats lost majority control of the House for the first time in 40 years. The author of that bill: Joe Biden.
Robert Woodson has edited a new book by black scholars who reject race bait and love America.
Nate Jackson
It’s beautiful to be black and patriotic. That’s the message of a recently published book, Red, White, and Black — a collection of essays written by almost all minority contributors and edited by Robert Woodson. In fact, it might be summed up best by contributor Clarence Page, a black liberal journalist: “Black patriotism is more important than victimization.”
Last year, the Woodson Center launched the 1776 Unites campaign specifically to counter the 1619 Project but also more broadly the anti-American racism of Critical Race Theory. This book is the fruit of that effort, which is made clear by its subtitle: “Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers.”
Political scientist Carol Swain explains why she’s thankful to have never been “taught to hate white people or to hate America.” She’s lived by New Testament principles instead of by the Left’s dogma of “hatred, bitterness, and distrust.”
Wilfred Reilly, another political scientist, argues that America is far from “structurally racist,” and that the “primary social problems of today have nothing to do with historical racial conflict.” In fact, the destruction of the black family has happened due to leftist government policies, not racial discrimination.
Other contributors include John Sibley Butler, Jason D. Hill, Coleman Cruz Hughes, John McWhorter, and Shelby Steele — the latter of whom was censored by Amazon for running afoul of the narrative on Black Lives Matter and Michael Brown. That in and of itself shows how brave blacks must be if they think for themselves instead of towing the Democrat Party line.
Just ask Willie Richardson or Patrick Hampton, who contribute regularly to The Patriot Post and battle the intolerance of others in their community.
The lone white author in Woodson’s book, Georgetown political scientist Joshua Mitchell, poses the bottom-line question for race-baiters who regularly tell blacks they are oppressed and should be bitter against this country: “Is this the world in which we really want to live? An infantilized world, without adult perseverance and responsibility? A world without hope, a world without reverence for those whose achievements belie the suffering they have endured and overcome?”
No, it’s not, and it’s good to see serious people saying so. Liberty is colorblind, and the rights endowed by our Creator — rights we should all be celebrating this Independence Day — are for people of every color.
A week after the fact, the Democrat winner of New York City’s mayoral primary race is still unknown.
Thomas Gallatin
The Left’s latest voting concoction — “ranked choice voting,” or RCV — has not produced greater clarity. Just the opposite, in fact. New York City’s adoption of RCV for its mayoral contest has resulted in greater complication for voting tabulation and increased confusion, ruining the possibility for more public confidence in the integrity and accuracy of an election’s outcome.
So, what is RCV? For one thing, New Yorkers were sold on the idea that it’s an attempt to avoid expensive and low-turnout runoffs. As National Review’s editors note, it was also supposed to “decrease negative campaigning and produce winners who had proved successful at building coalitions.”
Well, confusion reigns. As The Wall Street Journal explains, “The city’s Board of Elections on Tuesday released an updated tally, meant to show where the candidates stood after several rounds of recounting. Each round eliminated the candidate with the fewest votes, and reassigned votes to the next-ranked candidate on each voter’s ballot.”
In this instance, after the first round of counting, the Democrat mayoral primary candidate garnering the most votes was former NYPD officer Eric Adams, who enjoyed a sizable 14-point lead over the second-place contender. Indeed, he appeared last week to be the likely winner. However, following the elimination counting round, third-place candidate Kaythryn Garcia closed the gap to within two percentage points, which amounts to 14,755 votes with more than 124,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted.
What on election day, June 22, was presumed to be a clear win for Adams has been thrown into doubt. But it’s not just the RCV system of tallying votes. On Tuesday, the election board also announced that a mistake had been made in the vote count — some 135,000 test run votes were included in the actual vote tally, throwing off the number. There is still no official vote number, and it will likely take at least another week before a winner is announced.
The error elicited this response from the Adams campaign: “There are still absentee ballots to be counted that we believe favor Eric — and we are confident we will be the final choice of New Yorkers when every vote is tallied. … Every candidate should respect the democratic process and be committed to supporting whomever the voters have selected to be the Democratic nominee for Mayor.”
This serves to underscore the reason why several GOP-run states have been passing election integrity laws. As voter fraud and mistakes happen during elections, it would be wise to shore up any areas of deficiency or unintentional loopholes to produce greater election integrity as a matter of fact, as well as to improve public confidence in those results.
The New York Post reports, “Tuesday’s epic fail has sparked calls for reform that include disbanding the 10-member Board of Elections, which is composed of five Democrats and five Republicans — one each from the city’s five boroughs — who are hand-picked by their local party leaders.” This further takes the wind out of the sails of Joe Biden’s false smear of Republican election integrity laws as “Jim Crow 2.0,” because the Democrat bastion of New York is a huge problem too.
New poll shows how Trump surged with women and Hispanics (Politico)
Closing Arguments
Policy: How we can fix our “Made in China” problem (The Dispatch)
Policy: Biden can checkmate Iranian influence in Iraq (AEI)
Satire: Kamala Harris removes racist white stripes from U.S. flag in time for 4th of July (Genesius Times)
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.
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Insight: “Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: ‘We the people.’ … Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which ‘We the people’ tell the government what it is allowed to do.” —Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
Observations: “‘We are in the middle of a pandemic!’ is the universal tell of a politician who’s been caught out and doesn’t like the question.” —James Morrow
For the record: “One hundred years of the [Chinese Communist Party] is a century of killing fields and genocide. No political party has killed more people than the CCP.” —Mike Pompeo
Political futures: “There will never be unity. One side of the divide thinks that children should go to drag shows, women have penises, infanticide is good, and all white people are racist. There’s no common ground between us. I despise their worldview and have no respect for those who ascribe to it.” —Matt Walsh
Upright: “The Republican Party is the party of law and order, defending the police, and we will always proudly stand with our men and women in blue. The American people know very clearly that the Democrats have led the dangerous and destructive agenda to defund the police causing today’s crime crisis in America.” —Congresswoman Elise Stefanik
Projection, part I: “The president ran and won the most votes of any candidate in history on a platform of boosting funding for law enforcement after Republicans spent decades trying to cut the COPS program.” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Projection, part II: “If you oppose funding for the COPS program — something that was dramatically cut by the prior administration and many Republicans supported — and then you vote against a bill that has funding for the COPS program, we can let other people evaluate what that means.” —Jen Psaki
The BIG Lie: “Where it really counts, all four members of the Squad are more pro-police than their Republican critics.” —Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank
She doth protest too much: “It’s [right-wingers] mission to turn and twist everything I say until I am completely silenced.” —Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
Non compos mentis: “We’re going to start a new family tradition in my family. On the Fourth of July and every Fourth of July going forward, we’re going to watch that video that The New York Times put together of January 6.” —former Senator Claire McCaskill
Village idiot: “I don’t know about you but if the flag and star spangled banner comes around me I kneel in solidarity and will for the rest of my life.” —actress Rosanna Arquette
And last… “If you’re on the side that’s trying to disarm and silence everyone, you’re not part of the resistance, you’re aiding fascism and tyranny.”—Kevin Sorbo
Elsa becomes 1st Atlantic hurricane of 2021 Hurricane Elsa formed over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean early Friday just west of the Caribbean island of Barbados, one day after the system became the fifth-named storm of 2021. AccuWeather forecasters, having expected the cyclone to reach hurricane force, continued monitoring Elsa and predict it will approach the United States next week after it unleashes heavy rain, strong winds and stirs up dangerous seas around the Caribbean islands through this weekend.
Philippine Volcano Belches Dark Plume, Villagers Evacuated A small volcano near the Philippine capital belched a dark plume of steam and ash into the sky in a brief explosion Thursday, prompting officials to start evacuating thousands of villagers from high-risk areas. Government experts said magmatic materials came into contact with water in the main crater of Taal Volcano in Batangas province, setting off the steam-driven blast with no accompanying volcanic earthquake. They said it’s unclear if the volcanic unrest could lead to a full-blown eruption.
US & Japan Conduct Rare ‘Secret’ War Games Simulating China-Taiwan Conflict Response The Financial Times is reporting this week that Washington and Tokyo held “top-secret tabletop war games and joint exercises in the South China and East China seas” – though of course they now appear not-so-secret. The planning of the games reportedly started during the final year of the Trump administration. What’s more is that the covert war games represent Japan becoming increasingly bold in shedding its fears of provoking Beijing, with FT underscoring it’s now creating an “integrated war plan for Taiwan”…
Iconic American Magazine Fails To Disclose CCP Funding in Latest Print Edition The magazine’s June 21-28 double issue included an insert from China Daily, a media outlet controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Disclosures on the insert label it as an advertisement from China Daily in Beijing and note that additional “information is on file with the DOJ, Washington DC.” Chinese government funding for China Daily is not mentioned. Time magazine failed to disclose Chinese government funding for content published in its most recent print edition.
Former Harvey Weinstein Adviser Defends Kamala Harris From Charges of Staff Abuse Evidence continues to mount in support of the Washington Free Beacon‘s assessment that Vice President Kamala Harris will never become president by winning an election. According to a THE POLITICO report published Wednesday, the VP’s office is a woefully mismanaged hellhole of abuse and recrimination. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s—t.”
Israel’s president tells UN chief: Your bias won’t bring peace Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday at the U.N. headquarters in New York as part of his farewell tour of the United States. During the meeting, Rivlin addressed anti-Israel bias in the U.N. and called for it to end. “Our region, the Middle East, needs trust between people. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians will never ever be achieved by anti-Israeli resolutions or investigation committees,” Rivlin told Guterres according to a news release.
ICE Agents, Sheriffs Sue Biden Admin Over ‘Unlawful’ Deportation Policy A group of sheriffs and active Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have filed suit against the Biden administration for its “unlawful and unconstitutional” requirements regarding the arrest and deportation of illegal aliens. The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to a Feb. 18 memorandum that they say “commands ICE officers to violate the specific terms of federal immigration law.”
COVID-19 infections are rare and mild after vaccination New research is showing that although some vaccinated people are still contracting COVID-19, they generally experience milder disease for a shorter period of time with a low viral load. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers some of the first robust data tracking the severity of “breakthrough infections.”
‘2021 will be the year of Israel-Gulf business ties’ ECI is mandated to reinforce the country’s economic diversification programs, as well as to support its export and international trade and investment activities. It already signed one deal with Israel and Falcioni said it has already identified key sectors for future business.
U.S. and Iran show no move to put nuclear deal back on track The United Nations, European Union and many Security Council members urged the United States and Iran on Wednesday to quickly put the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at reining in Tehran’s nuclear program back on track, but neither side showed any sign of movement toward an agreement.
Israel and the UAE have chosen peace and prosperity In a joint piece, the foreign ministers of Israel and UAE share their aspirations for a strong relationship and bilateral cooperation in a wide swathe of fields that will benefit of the people of both nations, everyone in the Middle East and even beyond
IDF attacks Hamas weapons manufacturing site in Gaza IDF fighter jets attacked a Hamas terrorist weapons manufacturing site in Gaza overnight Thursday. The attacked components were used by Hamas for research and development of weapons. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that “the attack was carried out in response to the firing of incendiary balloons into Israeli territory.
US adds Turkey to list of countries implicated in use of child soldiers The United States on Thursday added Turkey to a list of countries that are implicated in the use of child soldiers over the past year, placing a NATO ally for the first time in such a list, in a move that is likely to further complicate the already fraught ties between Ankara and Washington.
J&J says its single-shot COVID vaccine shows strong activity against Delta Johnson & Johnson said late Thursday that its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine generated strong, persistent activity against the Delta variant, and other highly prevalent variants. Data showed that the durability of the immune response lasted through at least eight months, the company said.
Tropical Storm Elsa could become 1st Atlantic hurricane of 2021 forecasters continued to keep a close eye on Tropical Storm Elsa after it was named the fifth storm of the Atlantic hurricane season early Thursday morning. The storm is likely to strengthen into the first hurricane of 2021 in the Atlantic and is predicted to approach the United States next week after it unleashes heavy rain, strong winds and stirs up dangerous seas in the Caribbean islands starting on Friday.
IDF on alert in the South after latest round of Hamas clashes A month and a half after Operation Guardian of the Walls, the border between Israel and Gaza is quiet but tense. The stores and roads are open once again, and bomb shelters in the South are no longer where residents spend the majority of the day. Schools and day camps are also once again taking children to southern Israel for excursions.
US adds Turkey to list of countries implicated in use of child soldiers The United States on Thursday added Turkey to a list of countries that are implicated in the use of child soldiers over the past year, placing a NATO ally for the first time in such a list, in a move that is likely to further complicate the already fraught ties between Ankara and Washington.
Queen Victoria statue torn down at protest over indigenous deaths A prominent statue of Queen Victoria has been torn down by protesters in Canada as anger grows over the deaths of indigenous children at residential schools. The protesters cheered as the statue at the legislature in Manitoba’s capital Winnipeg was toppled on Thursday. A smaller statue of UK monarch Queen Elizabeth II was also upended nearby.
Incendiary balloons again spark fires in Gaza border area Incendiary balloons launched from the Gaza Strip sparked four minor fires near the border region, Fire and Rescue Services said on Thursday, in the latest spate of attacks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect following last month’s 11-day conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups.
US wins backing for global minimum corporate tax rate Officials from 130 countries and jurisdictions have thrown their support behind the United States’ proposal to require a minimum global tax for corporations starting at 15 percent, a key step in curbing corporate tax avoidance and a major victory for the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Turkey women protest withdrawal from gender protection treaty Turkey officially withdrew on Thursday from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty to prevent gender-based violence, as activists pledged to continue to fight as more women than ever before are demanding their rights are protected. Protests took place around the country and were planned again over the weekend as an appeal against the withdrawal from opposition parties was rejected by the Council of State on Tuesday.
Lawsuit: Immigrant kids are suicidal, eating rotten food in secretive detention facilities A case filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California shines a light on the crowded, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions that minors are currently facing in immigration detention facilities. Faced with record-high numbers of people crossing the Southwest border, the Biden administration has scrambled to build temporary facilities to house migrant children. Over 14,000 unaccompanied minors are now in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Tropical Storm “Elsa” – Warnings issued for Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tropical Storm “Elsa” formed at 09:00 UTC on July 1, as the fifth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. The system is expected to pass near or over portions of the Windward Islands or the southern Leeward Islands on Friday, July 2, move into the eastern Caribbean Sea late Friday and Friday night, and move near the southern coast of Hispaniola on Saturday, July 3.
Phreatomagmatic eruption at Taal volcano, Alert Level raised to 3, Philippines A phreatomagmatic eruption took place at Taal volcano, Philippines at 07:16 UTC (15:16 LT) on July 1, 2021, generating a short-lived dark plume up to 1 km (3 300 feet). Anomalously high volcanic SO2 gas emission preceded the eruption, averaging 14 241 tonnes/day and 13 287 tonnes/day on June 28 and July 1, respectively. A marked increase in volcanic gas upwelling also began on June 28, generating plumes that rose some 3 km (9 840 feet) above Taal Volcano Island.
DNI report says military pilots recorded 11 “near misses” with UFOs A government report said military pilots recorded a total of 11 instances where their planes nearly hit unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The June 25 report was drafted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), in partnership with the Department of Defense‘s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. It found that pilots reported 11 “near misses” with UFOs since 2004.
Clandestine Surveillance Of Americans By Unaccountable And Secretive Government Agencies Has Become ‘Business As Usual’ In Our Crumbling Society Remember back after 9/11 when they passed the Patriot Act which was nothing more than a systematic dismantling of the rights and freedoms of the average, everyday American citizen? Remember how up in arms everyone was about the massive violation of personal privacies? Sprinkle in a few recessions and foreign wars, and guess what? People forgot about the Patriot Act, the average college student in America has never even heard of it. But all those things we who were awake were so afraid absolutely have come to pass, and a whole lot more than that.
Follow us on Telegram https://t.me/rtintl / https://t.me/rtvisual Everything we associate with modern life has been digitalized. In fact, we live within ecosystems created by Big Tech. They decide what we see, what we can buy, and even what we can say.
Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Vernon Jones told a CNN reporter that the news network is about “controlling negroes” not delivering news and blasted the network for not investigating allegations of election fraud from Republicans. “They don’t want people of color to have conservative thoughts,” he told a crowd in this viral video. “He’s here to keep me from running, to keep me from being governor of the state. Why? Because liberals…they do not want blacks thinking for themselves.”
REAL journalism is dead in America.
If the liberal media thinks they can bully me, intimidate me, or silence me, they have another thing coming. I'm not a resident on their plantation. pic.twitter.com/quij54llWU
Conservatives are praising a Supreme Court ruling affirming Arizona voting laws designed to stamp out fraud, more than 170 House members are against the president’s budget proposal, President Joe Biden met with family members and first …
Lice outbreaks, unsanitary living conditions, suicide attempts and reports of rape are emerging from the tent camps housing thousands of migrant children at the U.S. southern border, where the children are held before being bussed.
STAND on the WORD of GOD ALONE A compilation of Herescope articles on these things
“Fear though not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)
By Sarah Huling Leslie Over the years the most requested topic in our e-mails has been about an extensive article series we ran on the UFOs, the nephilim, the space alien and end-time eschatology. Recently the UFOs and space aliens has been in the news again. Below is a compilation of all of our articles on these topics so that you can research this issue for yourself.
Personal TestimonyIn the Spring of 1974 when I was in college I signed up to take a philosophy course on Teilhard de Chardin, the French Jesuit de-frocked priest, an evolutionist who postulated an esoteric view of mankind emerging to a new order species. I was a worldly baby Christian at the time and living in sin. I fell easily into Teilhard’s worldview and began to veer back into the occult world. One of the rabbit trails took me deeply into the writings of Erich von Daniken and related authors at the time, who postulated that the earth was visited by space aliens. The professor who taught the Teilhard class had come out of Stanford University; specifically he had worked with the Stanford Research Institute headed by Willis Harman, a New Age Luciferian Theosophist. This professor had previously attempted to train a select group of students, of which I was a participant, in psychological methods of manipulation. After I repented of my sins and returned to Jesus Christ I became hyper-alert about these methodologies. I spent an entire decade during the 1990s warning about how these methods were being incorporated into the education of children, and then I spent the next two decades warning about how these methods and beliefs were coming into the church.
Alien Encounters A decade ago when I read a copy of Chuck Missler’s 1997 book Alien Encounters I was startled to recognize not only its thesis, but also its heavy reliance on von Daniken and unsavory occult sources. I was also appalled that he was employing sophisticated methods of psychological manipulation to persuade his reader to think new ways. Missler’s book had caught on in certain segments of the church world by “prophecy” teachers who would delve even further into ancient occult sources. We began to warn that a hysteria was arising in the church about a coming space alien invasion. The teachers were employing psychological methods to induce FEAR, especially via its use of graphic imagery in both text and artwork. Such psychic imagery (also called “fear porn”) can cause physiological and biochemical reactions in the brain and body, and some people get addicted to this sensation. These prophecy teachers were NOT talking about the soon coming of Jesus Christ. We began to refer to them as the “Postmodern Prophecy Paradigm.” They were also relying on pseudo-science (“science falsely so called” 1 Timothy 6:20) and conspiracy theory. Here is how we described it:
“TAKE HEED lest any man DECEIVE you” These hyped-up narratives about endtime horrors were based NOT on Scripture. But we must stand on the Bible ALONE to discern TRUTH in these last days, especially if there is some sort of global psy-op on the horizon that could usher in a false christ. For the first time we understood more deeply the conversation Jesus had with His warning them of endtime DECEPTION: “And as He [Jesus Christ] sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?’ And Jesus answering them began to say, ‘Take heed lest any man DECEIVE you:’“ (Mark 13:3-5)
We are thankful that Dr. Martin Erdmann and the late pastors Larry DeBruyn and Ken Silva worked on a daily basis with Gaylene Goodroad and I as we grappled with these issues. We are also thankful to our Discernment Research Group who helped us research and prayed daily for us while we published. Some of the articles in the compilation below may no longer be accessible online, but this list illustrates the entire breadth of the issues we were grappling with. Also note that we heavily utilized satire. Both Pastors Larry and Ken possessed a brilliant sense of humor. They hoped that by poking fun at it they might reach people to see the absurdity of the false paradigm that was arising.
HERESCOPE ARTICLES RELATED TO THE EMERGING ESCHATOLOGY
“If religious feeling makes confessional truth subservient to the changing aspect of our communities, then it should be no real surprise that what we are seeing happen in the “current” sexual revolution is redefining of what is means to be confessional based on the religious experience of the moment. This is what the PCA is up against and, well, all of us together as believers in Christ.”
(Chris Gordon – Freidrich Schleiermacher, the PCA, and Side B Christianity)
The struggle in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) over confessional identity is a microcosm of the macrocosm. The current discussions reveal that the PCA is on track to be another denominational domino to topple along with the mainline churches who have embraced theological liberalism….
The Social Justice movement, along human sexuality redefinition, is escalating things quickly.
Often, it’s hard to appreciate in the moment exactly what is happening, especially when denominational leaders who are advancing the trajectory mock the “slippery slope” narrative as crying wolf. But Scott Clark is correct in saying we should use the right categories of analysis. Clark writes,
One way to avoid the same outcome in the PCA is to use the right categories of analysis: confessional v. non-confessional rather than “liberal v. conservative.” It is possible to be generally theologically conservative but non-confessional. Of course theological liberalism is also non-confessional but it is easy to assume that the theological “conservatives” in the PCA are confessional, even when they are not.
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