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
It is definitely not normal for so many mainly young athletes to suffer from cardiac arrests or to die while playing their sport, but this year it is happening. Many of these heart issues and deaths come shortly after they got a COVID vaccine. While it is possible this can happen to people who did not get a COVID vaccine, the sheer numbers clearly point to the only obvious cause.
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A hurdle many Christians cannot seem to get over is accepting and embracing the doctrine of election, or predestination. By nature, we don’t like the fact that God is the one who does the choosing. We want to be the masters of our fate and the captains of our soul. Yet Paul seems to make the case very clearly in Ephesians 1:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,even as he chose us in himbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In lovehe predestined usfor adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 1:3–5; emphasis added)
What brings Paul to doxology is distasteful to many. R.C. Sproul accurately describes the feeling of most people towards the concept:
The very word predestination has an ominous ring to it. It is linked to the despairing notion of fatalism and somehow suggests that within its pale we are reduced to meaningless puppets. The word conjures up visions of a diabolical deity who plays capricious games with our lives.[1]
Yes, this is a hard truth to come to terms with, but such a fatalistic view tragically eclipses the beauty of God’s work for undeserving and incapable sinners like you and me. To help us grapple with and grow to love this essential aspect of the gospel, consider the following three points about election.
1. Election is a biblical doctrine.
First, the doctrine is biblical. This should seem evident enough, as it is clearly spelled out in the section of Ephesians 1 quoted earlier. Nor is this the only place we run up against the concept in Scripture. Just a few verses later on Paul will say—even more bluntly—that we have been “predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11). In Romans 8:29-30 we read,
For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he predestined, these he also called; whom he called, these he also justified; and whom he justified, these he also glorified.”
These are places in which these theological terms are used explicitly, but if we broaden our radar to also pick up allusions to and themes of choosing, predetermining, and electing, the list gets longer.
There are some out there who have a false notion of predestination and election, namely, that it was the invention of some ancient French madman named John Calvin. No doubt, Calvin would mourn the fact that history has dubbed this doctrine “Calvinism,” as though it somehow belonged more to him than to God.
Others who are more informed would recognize that the idea of election is not strictly Calvinist and is in fact a scriptural concept. Indeed, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, and so-called Calvinists all hold to different nuances of predestination. But even then, the most common view is not the biblical one; that is, while God does choose some to salvation, He does so based on “foreseen faith.” This view states that God was able to look down the halls of time and see everyone who would, if presented the opportunity, respond to the gospel in faith. Those who would respond in faith God elects to everlasting life. This effectively makes our choice the foundation for God’s. It would put us over and above God.
2. Election is a big doctrine.
To those who would argue for that view, I would respond by saying it does not square with the rest of the biblical data regarding who God is, and that those who hold to it don’t understand the second thing about election: it is a big doctrine. By that I mean several things.
It is big in the sense that there is a lot at stake with election—like salvation! But the doctrine also deals with a big topic: the sovereignty of God. Or, to put it another way, election is a big deal because it deals with the bigness of God.
The Westminster Confession of Faith gives us a great description of what God’s sovereignty is all about:
God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.” (WCF 3.1)
This sweeping statement accurately captures the bigness of God, all in reference to predestination, or foreordination. First, in terms of time: “from all eternity”—there was never a moment that God wasn’t in control. Second, in terms of necessity: “freely”—no one forces God to do anything. Third, in terms of permanence: “unchangeably”—nothing can thwart God’s plan or cause it to take a detour. Fourth, in terms of scope: “whatsoever comes to pass”—in other words, if it happened, it’s because God ordained it to happen.
You see, if we lose God’s bigness, we lose God. If God is not sovereign, he is not God at all. If something can be decided or determined apart from, outside of, or before God, then that means that there is something out there that is greater than God. And if something is greater than God, then God isn’t God at all. Think about it: why would you want to choose salvation in Jesus for yourself, when it would mean putting your eternal destiny in the hands of a God who doesn’t even have a say in your temporal decisions?
Of course, the main concern for people is that if we “give” God His sovereignty, then we are giving away our own freedom. But this is a false dilemma. Loraine Boettner writes,
The true solution of this difficult question respecting the sovereignty of God and the freedom of man, is not to be found in the denial of either, but rather in such reconciliation as gives full weight to each, yet which assigns a preeminence to the divine sovereignty corresponding to the infinite exaltation of the Creator above the sinful creature.[2]
It is the very same God who has ordained “whatsoever comes to pass” who has also ordained our freedom! We can both be free, me and God. He’s just freer. As a father and a child are both free, yet the father’s freedom outweighs the child’s, so too does God give his creatures freedom out of and yet also within his own freedom.
3. Election is a beautiful doctrine.
This brings us to the third thing regarding predestination and election. Not only is it a biblical doctrine and a big doctrine, but it is also a beautiful doctrine. It can so often be caricatured as nothing more than a cold and lifeless calculus. But what does Paul say in Ephesians 1? That it was in love he predestined us (Eph. 1:4-5)! Thus, it has been said that election is based on affection. It is God’s love for us that causes him to ordain us to everlasting life. This is a beautiful truth, and it should move us to praise as it does Paul:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (Eph.1:3)
When properly understood, election teaches us not just about how great God is, but how good he is:
God’s love is the fountainhead of the gospel. God’s Son did not come into the world to persuade the Father to love or to win His love for us; He came as the gift of the Father’s love to us.[3]
He is a sovereign God, and yet also a saving God. Some people might tend to pit John’s “God is love” (1 John 4:16) against Paul’s predestination. But they go hand in hand. If God were not love, we would be lost. Yet while we were still sinners, God loved us—God chose us.
We do not know at what hour the Lord Jesus is coming back. But we are told in Scripture that there will be signs pointing toward the return of the Lord. I believe that we see those signs in the world today, and I believe that the coming of the Lord is near.
The Bible tells us, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. … Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:36, 42).
We read in the Scriptures about Noah and the flood. It was the greatest catastrophe in the history of the world. Scripture says that the flood destroyed everything. The importance of Noah and the flood is emphasized by the many references in the Bible. The flood was both a warning and a promise. God warned that He would not always strive with man. Then He made a covenant with Noah and his sons that He would never again destroy the world by flood, and He gave the rainbow as a promise.
The Apostle Peter wrote that in Noah’s day “the world that then existed perished” (2 Peter 3:6). But he also wrote that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).
The world is under the partial control of the devil. He is called “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). This is the age of evil, and God says it’s so terrible and so awful that He has to destroy it.
Let us look at man’s condition at the time of the flood. The Bible tells us that the people gloried in sin; they loved it. Jesus said, “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37). Today, every form of perversion recorded in human history is being practiced on an even greater scale.
In Noah’s day, the world was filled with violence. And today we see films in which people are doing all kinds of terrible things. Listen to some of the conversations on talk shows. As some of those people are expressing themselves, we can’t believe that human nature has sunk so low.
God said He will judge the world. God is still a God of love, but He is also a God of judgment. He is going to judge the world, and He is going to judge you, unless you repent of your sins and receive Christ into your heart.
The Bible says there is a limit to God’s patience: “The Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever’” (Genesis 6:3). He said there was a time limit for the people of Noah’s day.
The flood was not a natural catastrophe. It was a moral catastrophe. It came as a result of God’s judgment on the attitudes and actions of the people in the world of that time. God has set a time limit for our day as well. God has “appointed a day on which He will judge the world … by the Man whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31). That Man is Jesus Christ. We don’t know when it will happen, but Jesus said the hour is coming.
Today the Holy Spirit is at work showing you your spiritual need. The Scripture says, “When [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8).“Christ will return, and there will be the Judgment. Eternity will be before you: Heaven or hell. You will be in one of them, according to the choice that you make about Jesus Christ.”
We are not on trial. The trial is over. We have already been found guilty in the sight of God. We are not being tried. The court is finished. The jury has said, “You are guilty.” The penalty is death—spiritual death and physical death.
What can we do?
We have to make a choice. We have to make a personal commitment to Christ. We can’t go on our mother’s faith or on our father’s faith. We can’t go on the faith of the church. We can be baptized, we can be confirmed, we can live a decent life and still not know Christ, still not be saved.
On the other hand, we may come from families with no Christian background or influence. We don’t have to have Christian parents to come to Christ by faith. Either way, we come just as we are. The Scripture says, “Whoever will, may come” (see Revelation 22:17).
Noah was a righteous man. He was a kind man. He did things that were right in the sight of God. “Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). He was a man of faith. He feared the Lord. In his life there was obedience to God.
So God came to Noah and told him His plan. He said, “Noah, I am going to cause it to rain 40 days and 40 nights. The flood will destroy the whole world, because the world has become so wicked” (Cf. Genesis 7:4). God gave him all the specifications to build an ark. It would have one window. It would be designed to float, not to navigate. There would be no sails. It wouldn’t capsize.
Noah started building the ark, and as Noah built the ship, his work was a sermon to the people of that day: “Repent, believe. Let God come into your heart. Let God take control of your life. Come into the ark and be saved.” But no one repented. Then one day God said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household” (Genesis 7:1).
The Bible says a great deal about entire families coming to Christ. The Philippian jailer was saved with his entire household. The entire household of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, was saved. That could be true in your family too. You may be the one who could lead your family to Christ. If you take your stand for Christ, they may come to Him, too.
God told Noah to come into the ark, along with a male and female of every kind of animal.
Noah went into the ark, and nothing happened. This must have been the greatest test of his faith. People outside were probably laughing. Maybe they came from miles around to see the folly of Noah. He had told everybody that it was going to rain. He told them that God was going to destroy the whole world with water. They didn’t believe it. This tested Noah’s faith, but He believed, in spite of what the people said: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7).
No one could ever say, “We didn’t know the flood was coming,” because they had heard Noah’s preaching. God had extended His love and mercy and righteousness in every possible way, but they had rejected it.
The Scripture says that one day God shut the door (see Genesis 7:16). Noah didn’t shut it; God did. And one day God will shut the door as far as we are concerned: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24). Today you can pass from death to life. You can be saved from that which is yet to come.
The Scripture says that Christ will come back, and every eye shall see him. A day will come when Christ will return, and there will be the Judgment. Eternity will be before you: Heaven or hell. You will be in one of them, according to the choice that you make about Jesus Christ.
God said, “Come into the ark, you and all your household” (Genesis 7:1), a personal invitation to Noah. And Noah acted on it. And it’s a personal invitation to us to come to God—come to the cross, come to the empty tomb.
Noah was shut in; God had shut the door. Noah’s salvation was totally up to God.
“Look!” someone yelled. And there was a cloud, no bigger than a man’s hand; and the cloud grew and it grew and it grew. And finally, the waters came—a torrential downpour. The earth also broke up, and great floods came out of the earth. And people began to cry, “Let us in, let us in, let us in! We were wrong. We repent. Please let us in!” But it was too late. The only door was shut!
There is only one Door to Heaven, and that is Jesus. I am glad to tell you that Door is still open. Jesus said, “I am the door” (John 10:9). In Revelation 4:1 we read, “I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was … saying, ‘Come up here.’”
Are you ready for that Day that is certain to come? We don’t know when it will be, but we should be ready at any moment. Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). Are you ready? You can make sure today.
You ask, “What do I have to do?” Three things: First, repent of your sins. To repent means to change, to turn to God and say, “I’m sorry I’ve sinned.”
Second, come to Christ by faith. You may never understand all about salvation, or all about God, or all about the Bible, but you can come by simple, childlike trust and put your faith in Jesus Christ.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.
Are You Ready for the Judgment?
If you are not sure that you have a right standing with Almighty God, you can be sure today. First, confess your sin and turn away from it. Second, receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, putting your faith in Him alone to save you. You can do that right now. He promises to live in you and transform your life. You can have a new life, a new beginning, if you will surrender to Christ.
START BY SIMPLY TALKING TO GOD.
You can pray a prayer like this:
“Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe He died on the cross for my sin and You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
DO IT RIGHT NOW.
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VISIT US ONLINE:
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WRITE TO US:
Christian Guidance Department
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
1 Billy Graham Parkway Charlotte, NC 28201-0001 USA
“I am going to ask you to give your heart and life to Jesus Christ right now.” How many people, for how many years, in how many countries around the world, heard Billy Graham say these words during his decades of Crusade ministry? At his invitation, and the prodding of the Holy Spirit, scores of people would leave their seats and go down to the front of the arena and give their hearts and lives to Jesus.
There are various ways to describe what happened during those moments and at any time someone accepts Christ. While salvation is accomplished only through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible uses words like faith, repentance, gift, believe, confess, call and receive to describe this transformation. All of these words answer Jesus’ call to Nicodemus in John 3:7: “You must be born again.”“The words faith and trust are inextricably intertwined into the whole meaning and application of salvation. Salvation is God’s gift to sinful man.”
Consider the word believe, which we see in John 3:16. Interestingly, it comes from the Latin root word cred, from which we would get our understanding of “giving credence to someone or something said.” Basically, it means the person who receives something said or given accepts it without cause for question. When Jesus invites us to believe in Him, He invites us to simply trust who He is and what He has done for us. So, it follows that the word faith or trustis the active ingredient of our belief in Christ. Salvation comes when the sinner recognizes his sin, confesses it to God and turns away from it, and puts his trust in Jesus as Savior.
The Holy Spirit exclusively does the work of conviction (John 16:8) and thus draws us toward placing our faith and trust in Jesus. This is why, when writing to the Roman believers, Paul said “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
Furthermore, the words faith and trust are inextricably intertwined into the whole meaning and application of salvation. Salvation is God’s gift to sinful man, made possible only because of Jesus, received by faith and trust, and granted through God’s sovereign grace in the past, at the present, and for the future.
Salvation past affirms Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross in Jerusalem, which was the fulfillment of the eternal fact of God’s foreknowledge in that, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
Salvation present is the very avenue by which all sinners acknowledge their sin to Jesus (confession), turn from their sin (repentance), and believe (trust) that God raised Jesus from the dead. Salvation future is God’s guarantee of being able to live out the Christian life, despite being trapped in human flesh. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
In addition to our earthly salvation being guaranteed by God’s gift of grace, our eternal salvation is also guaranteed because God raised Jesus from the dead. This is why Paul was able to say, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version.
Don Wilton served for 30 years as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and for 17 years as president of The Encouraging Word television ministry. For many years, he served as Billy Graham’s pastor.
Some people think they’re Christians just because they go to church. But going to church doesn’t mean they have a relationship with God.
The number of Americans claiming to be born again has never been higher. Yet a poll taken among so-called born-again Christians found that 28% believed that Jesus committed sins like other people while He lived on Earth. And one-third of those claiming to be born again also believed that if someone is good enough, they can earn a place in Heaven.
Maybe we just don’t understand what it means to be born again. It’s obviously important. In fact, Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).
Jesus spoke these words to a man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee. We usually think of the Pharisees in a negative light, because Jesus saved some of His most scathing words for the scribes and the Pharisees.
Among other things, He called them whitewashed tombs. He talked about how they majored on the externals, completely missing the point.
Yet the Pharisees were a pretty admirable group of individuals. Never numbering more than 6,000, each of them took a solemn vow before three witnesses to devote every moment of their lives to obeying the Ten Commandments. (Not that any of them were successful, but it’s what they attempted to do.) They took the law of God very seriously.
So the Pharisee named Nicodemus was a devout man. He was a religious man. Not only that, he was a leader. He might even have been a household name in Israel. But although he was well educated and deeply religious, there was something missing in his life.
The Bible tells us that Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night. He probably went at night because he was afraid to be seen with Jesus. Everyone knew who Nicodemus was. And maybe he was afraid of what others would think. But at least he went.
John’s Gospel indicates that Nicodemus had great respect for Jesus, because he told Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).
Jesus doesn’t want us to just admire Him, however. He makes radical claims, wonderful promises and life-changing statements that He challenges us to contemplate, think about and respond to.
So He said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Unfortunately, the term bornagain has been pirated, emptied of its meaning, dragged through the gutter and given back to us, minus its power. Today when people tell us they are “born again,” we’re not even sure what they mean.
But Jesus was saying, “Here’s what it is, Nicodemus. Your religious beliefs are not enough. In spite of the fact that you’ve been at the top of the heap in your religion, it means nothing. It hasn’t brought you any closer to Heaven.”
Nicodemus evidently grappled with this, because he said, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4).
In other words, “Jesus, I don’t get this. How can I change?”
So Jesus told him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. … The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5, 8).
Some people say, “I won’t believe it unless I can see it.” That is like someone saying they don’t believe in hurricanes because they can’t see them. Yet we can certainly see the effects of hurricanes.
In the same way, I can’t show you God. I can’t say, “Here’s God. Look at Him with your own eyes.” But I can show you the effect of God’s work. There’s evidence all around us in those who have had their lives transformed by Jesus Christ.“I didn’t really feel different afterward, and at first I wondered if anything had actually happened. But in the days and weeks that followed … I came to understand what had happened in that moment: I had been born again.”
Nicodemus wanted Jesus to essentially break this process down for him, so he said, “How can these things be?” (John 3:9).
Then Jesus gave a statement many Christians have memorized: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). That’s the Gospel in a nutshell.
You might relate to Nicodemus in some ways. Maybe you, too, are religious, moral and educated. Maybe you’ve been successful or have even had some fame.
But you ought to be thinking about what God thinks of you, because one day you will stand before Him. You won’t be there with your friends. You won’t be there with your coworkers. You won’t even be there with your family. You’ll be there by yourself.
Maybe you respect Jesus as a historical figure. Maybe you think Jesus was the greatest moral teacher of all time. But Jesus isn’t looking for respect. He’s not even looking for admiration. He didn’t say, “Admire Me.” Rather, He said, “Follow Me.” He’s looking for followers.
A lot of people think God is like a cosmic killjoy who is just out to ruin their lives. But nothing could be further from the truth. God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you … thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
If I had heard that verse while I was growing up, I wouldn’t have believed that “a future and a hope” could apply to me. My mother, an alcoholic, married and divorced seven times. I saw things no child should see. I grew up in bars with drunks, sleazy skuzzballs and skuzzy sleazeballs. I began partying and using drugs while I was a student at Harbor High School in Newport Beach, California.
And then everything changed. One day at school about 30 students—our school’s “Jesus People”—were sitting in a circle under a big tree, singing songs. I didn’t want to be associated with them, but I sat close enough to eavesdrop. A young evangelist named Lonnie Frisbee read from the Bible and talked about Jesus. He explained that Jesus is real and can be known personally.
“Jesus said, ‘You’re either for Me, or you are against Me,’” Lonnie said. “There’s no middle ground with Jesus. You’re either for Him or against Him. Which side are you on?”
Then he said that anyone—including those of us on the fringes listening in—who wanted to be for Jesus should come forward, and he would pray with them.
I wasn’t sure if I could believe everything Lonnie had said, but I was willing to try. I walked over to the “Jesus freak preacher” and, with a handful of others, repeated a prayer, asking Jesus Christ to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins.
I didn’t really feel different afterward, and at first I wondered if anything had actually happened. But in the days and weeks that followed, God began to change me, and I came to understand what had happened in that moment: I had been born again.
Darkness is spreading across the land. As the New Year got underway just a few weeks ago, I posted this on social media amid the flood of New Year’s resolutions:
“As we begin 2023, the world we live in seems to be imploding. A brutal war is bringing suffering and death in Ukraine with every day that passes. Senseless violence is rampant across the United States. Anti-God agendas that once hid in the darkness are now proudly out in the open, demanding acceptance. Developed nations are being overtaken by socialism, removing God from anything and everything in the public square. And if you think things are bad, just wait—they’ll get worse. As followers of Jesus Christ, what do we do? We tell a dying world that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life—no one comes to the Father except through Him (see John 14:6). We urge lost souls to repent of their sins and believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, before it’s too late.”
That’s not being pessimistic, it’s just a realistic grasp of the increasingly sinful, wicked and lawless state in which we find ourselves.
For decades now, America has been gradually abandoning the moral and spiritual precepts that have long informed our nation with God’s objective truth. Now apparently we can no longer discern the difference between men and women, and have come up with a category called transgender to describe something that doesn’t even exist. We have allowed the LGBTQ lobby to forcefully cram their ungodly agenda down the throats of the most innocent—young school children. And an entire political party has staked their claim on the right of women to murder their own children in the womb. Child sacrifice?
I recently heard Pastor John MacArthur say that he believes we have been turned over to a reprobate mind as described in the first chapter of Romans: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:28, ESV). A debased or reprobate mind is essentially the point of no return. As MacArthur explained, “A reprobate mind means you don’t even function. There’s no way back because you aren’t rational. You start making laws to protect people who are insane. Why do I say that? Because they don’t know whether they are male or female. How insane can you be?”
Thus the unrepentant heart flaunts its wickedness and holds up its fist to defy God and His Word. God then eventually lets the defiant have their way to eternal destruction.
It all begins with a spiritually darkened mind, heart and understanding. “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).
It then becomes a matter of living in the dangerous, deadly realm of spiritual darkness. “You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18).“The only hope for a people or a nation is to turn to the Light of the World, the Lord Jesus Christ, who opens the hearts of blind and dead men and women to repent of sin and receive the gift of salvation.”
In other words, the unsaved, whether they realize it or not, live in spiritual darkness and deadness. And the Scripture is quite clear that those who continue in such a deceived state are at great peril for eternity. In His midnight conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus warned, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
As rebellion against God and His Word grows in the hearts of men, so darkness spreads across the land.
That’s why the only hope for a people or a nation is to turn to the Light of the World, the Lord Jesus Christ, who opens the hearts of blind and dead men and women to repent of sin and receive the gift of salvation. Jesus focused on that one truth as He talked to Nicodemus: “You must be born again” (John 3:7).
Worldly solutions won’t work. The darkness won’t retreat with more education. The darkness won’t retreat with more financial programs. The darkness won’t retreat with more political power. The darkness won’t retreat with scientific advancement. It is only overcome by those whose hearts have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and whose eyes have been opened “to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18).
Notice how the spiritual darkness and the dominion of Satan go hand in hand. The more the devil has an anchor in the souls of men, the greater the moral darkness.
In the mountains near my home, there is a little country church that built windows into the corners of the sanctuary, so that the devil has nowhere to hide. That’s a good reminder of how we should live. Never give the devil a corner of your life!
Believers are called to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). We know we have been called to “proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
I will be proclaiming the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world this year, calling on all who hear to repent of their sins and turn in saving faith to the Lord. And I would encourage you to bring the light of Jesus Christ into every dark corner of your towns, schools and communities. Every soul that is saved becomes yet another living testimony to the Light of the World.
Unless otherwise specified, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version. The Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
He blesseth the habitation of the just.Proverbs 3:33
He fears the Lord, and therefore he comes under the divine protection even as to the roof which covers himself and his family. His home is an abode of love, a school of holy training, and a place of heavenly light. In it there is a family attar where the name of the Lord is daily had in reverence. Therefore the Lord blesses his habitation. It may be a humble cottage or a lordly mansion; but the Lord’s blessing comes because of the character of the inhabitant and not because of the size of the dwelling.
That house is most blest in which the master and mistress are Godfearing people; but a son or daughter or even a servant may bring a blessing on a whole household. The Lord often preserves, prospers, and provides for a family for the sake of one or two in it, who are “just” persons in His esteem, because His grace has made them so. Beloved, let us have Jesus for our constant guest even as the sisters of Bethany had, and then we shall be blessed indeed.
Let us look to it that in all things we are just—in our trade, in our judgment of others, in our treatment of neighbors, and in our own personal character. A just God cannot bless unjust transactions.
“… Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus.
But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” Matthew 14:29-31 (MSG)
The call of discipleship is to follow after Jesus, even onto the water. In a sense, Jesus beckons,
“Come closer to me. Be my disciple and learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I am the only way, so I require you to focus exclusively on me in your obedience.“
Then, to underscore the need for this single-minded obedience, the Bible tells us that Peter became distracted. As he sees the wind whipping across the waves, Peter takes his focus off Jesus and he begins to sink into the water. His obedience is now double-minded – and he provides a profound object lesson in what happens when we try to serve two masters.
Here is the way of little faith: We want to walk on water; yet, we insist on being able to focus on whatever we want — sometimes Jesus, sometimes the wind and waves; sometimes Jesus, sometimes our careers and casual pursuits; sometimes Jesus; sometimes “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).
When we choose to focus on our cares and worries, we elevate our anxieties to the same status as the promises of Jesus. But, which is more important, which should demand our greater attention – the ability of Jesus to care for us or the concerns we have about our circumstances?
And so, rather than obeying the commands of Jesus, we demand he tolerate our distractions and double-mindedness. We live within a mythology that says we can somehow follow after Jesus, yet pick and choose what commandments we will obey — and when we’ll obey.
But, if we want to walk on the water with Jesus, we must hear his directing us, ‘Don’t look at the waves; look at Me.’
“You are a shield around me, O LORD, my Glorious One, who lifts up my head.” Psalm 3:4
We live in a world of great unrest: riots and terrorist attacks in many places, train bombings and shootings in broad daylight…How can we feel safe?
Late in his reign King David, was forced to flee for his life from Jerusalem because of a revolt led by his rebellious and arrogant son Absalom and a host of traitors. He could have trusted his army to protect him and defeat Absalom but instead He trusted God. “You are a shield around me, O LORD, my Glorious One, who lifts up my head,” he wrote.
Even at night, in the wide open desert without concrete walls around him and a comfortable bed, David was able to sleep. In the morning, he may have shaken his head in surprise as he said, “even here I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.”
The fact that God was His protection was very real to King David for he often wrote about it in the Psalms.
“My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent men you save me. You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.” 2 Samuel 22: 3, 36
Those comforting words are also for us. During times when we feel vulnerable we can say with David, “My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart” (Psalm 7:10). “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge” (Psalm 144:2).
For a shield to do any good we must use it. We must dwell in the fortress (God) and take up His shield.
“Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one,” Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:16.
Dear Father, we thank you that you are greater than anything that could harm us. We trust in your protection and deliverance.
Entire coalition signs bill to block High Court ruling, reappoint Deri The coalition had all of its members sign as co-authors of the new law proposal that will enable Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri to return to his positions as Interior and Health Minister, a source in Shas confirmed on Tuesday. The bill, an amendment to Basic Law: The Government, proposes to block the High Court of Justice’s ability to intervene in the prime minister’s prerogative to appoint ministers.
“TO THE ELECTRIC CHAIR” Ben Gvir Wants Death Penalty For Terrorists National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he is taking “responsibility” for the recent deadly terror attack in Jerusalem that resulted in seven deaths. He says at the start of his Otzma Yehudit political party’s meeting in the Knesset that the attack happened under his watch and he is not avoiding responsibility.
In veiled threat to Israel, Russia ‘strongly condemns’ attack on Iran “We strongly condemn any provocative actions potentially capable of provoking an uncontrolled escalation of tension in an already far from calm region. Such destructive actions may have unpredictable consequences for peace and stability in the Middle East,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Israel must refuse Jordan’s request to build on the Temple Mount The State of Israel must not agree to additional Jordanian construction on the Temple Mount, and certainly not a significant construction like the fifth minaret, as King Abdullah requested in the meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. The Palestinian Arabs will see this as weakness and increase the pressure and violence. This will be seen in their eyes as such a symbolic victory that it will inspire them with a sense of victory for many years to come.
Wall Street Journal report: Israel believes Isfahan strike achieved its goals Sources say the drone strike inside weapons production facility in Iran hit four different areas in the building. The operation early Sunday morning was executed by Israel’s intelligence agency, the Mossad, and targeted a Ministry of Defense site in Isfahan in central Iran,
Trump warns Biden on Ukraine: ‘Then come the nukes’ President Trump, provoked by Joe Biden’s announcement that the U.S., which already has given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars, is now authorizing sending 31 Abrams tanks to the embattled nation, says the war needs to end now. At the Post Millennial, Trump was quoted from social media, “FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES. Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!”
Fast-Food Workers Pray with President Trump President Trump made a campaign stop at Zesto, a popular fast-food restaurant in West Columbia, South Carolina — known for its burgers and fried chicken. (Screengrab Image) Staffers took a moment to pray with the former president
Biden Admin Quietly Retires Key Player After Over 2 Decades: What Were They Caught Doing? A senior Drug Enforcement Administration official was forced to retire from the agency amid a federal investigation into his closeness to defense lawyers that represented alleged drug traffickers. Nicholas Palmeri served as the DEA’s top official in North and Central America before a transfer abruptly ended his 14-month tenure in Mexico City, according to Fox News. Internal agency documents obtained by the Associated Press reveal that Palmeri, who had over 20 years experience in the DEA, was recalled from his post as the federal agency investigated his relationships with the lawyers of traffickers. Palmeri’s tenure witnessed an increase in the flow of narcotics across the southern border.
Who’s been illegally giving China US chips for nuclear weapons lab? The top nuclear-weapons research institute in China has purchased computer chips made in the United States more than 10 times since 2020, despite being placed on a blacklist decades ago. The revelations come as the U.S. and China compete over the global supply chain of semiconductors and computer chips. According to the Wall Street Journal, the China Academy of Engineering Physics, run by the Chinese Communist Party, has obtained semiconductors created by Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp.
743% spike in illegal immigration at US-Canada border sector U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded a staggering 743 percent year-over-year increase in illegal border crossings from Canada at the Swanton Sector, which spans New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, between October and December 2022. The increase comes after the U.S. saw a record number of border apprehensions in the 2022 fiscal year.
NOT GUILTY: Jury clears Catholic father targeted by Biden DOJ ‘We took on Goliath – the full might of the United States government’ A jury has found Mark Houck not guilty of federal charges brought against him by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice. The DOJ had charged Houck with two counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act when, outside a Pennsylvania abortion clinic, Houck allegedly pushed a pro-abortion activist who was allegedly antagonizing his son.
Britons to be Paid to Not Use Electricity Between 5pm and 6pm on Monday More than a million UK households will be offered money for them to cut their electricity use between 5pm and 6pm on Monday in a move that follows the National Grid bringing back mothballed coal plants today to ensure supply.
Biden’s pistol brace rule contains FATAL FLAW – it’s a TRAP! – NaturalNews.com …The “Guns & Gadgets” YouTube channel put out a video about this fatal flaw in the new rule, which forces American gun owners to tell the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) about their pistols in seeking approval for them. If the background check is delayed by any more than 88 days, then the applicant is deemed a criminal and the ATF can step in for enforcement action.
Over 50k Brits have Died Suddenly in the past 8 Months due to falling Victim to the 5-Month Countdown to Death COVID Vaccination causes as per Government Reports As the death toll rises, a dark shadow has been cast over Britain. Official data reveals that since April 2022, 407,910 deaths have occurred, with 47,379 excess deaths against the 2015-2019 five-year average. As the investigation deepens, it has become increasingly clear that the Covid-19 vaccines are the most likely cause of the unprecedented loss of life in Britain. The evidence is damning, with a startling correlation between the rollout of the vaccines and the spike in deaths.
McCarthy Pushes To Immediately End Pandemic Emergencies After Biden Says He Won’t Do It Till May House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said during an interview Monday night that he is putting forth a bill this week to bring an immediate end to the COVID emergency that was started under former President Donald Trump and has been extended for nearly three years under the Biden administration.
“During the course of administration, and in order to disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or dare.” —Thomas Jefferson (1805)
Taking their lead from a dubious New York Times story, the Democrats are trying to smear John Durham and thereby discredit his pending report.
Douglas Andrews
Was the Democrats’ years-long investigation into Donald Trump for colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election a legitimate endeavor, or was it an illegal and utterly illegitimate deep state conspiracy to frame and thus incapacitate a duly elected president?
The answer might seem as obvious to you as it does to us, and it might seem like old news, but the question is going to be addressed anew when Special Counsel John Durham releases his report.
We don’t know when, exactly, that report will be released, but we can be certain that the Democrats are worried about it — which is why they’re already working the refs, already scheming about how best to smear Durham and tar his investigation and preemptively poison the well ahead of the release of his report.
The Democrats, in fact, might go even further: They might be trying to discredit Durham to such an extent that it gives Attorney General Merrick Garland reason to block the release of the report altogether.
All this started on Thursday, when a troika of New York Times activists “journalists” published a hit piece under the following headline: “How Barr’s Quest to Find Flaws in the Russia Inquiry Unraveled.”
The story’s subhead was even more agenda-driven: “The review by John Durham at one point veered into a criminal investigation related to Donald Trump himself, even as it failed to find wrongdoing in the origins of the Russia inquiry.”
Let’s be clear: Just because Durham was unable to convince a rigged jury in a rigged town and secure a host of criminal convictions doesn’t mean he “failed to find wrongdoing.” Durham has found plenty of wrongdoing, and his report will spell it out — and that’s what the Democrats are afraid of.
They’re so afraid, in fact, that ultra-partisan Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is planning to look into claims that Durham “misled witnesses about the nature of his probe, ignored allegations that former President Donald Trump may have committed financial crimes, and rushed a case to trial even though his staffers quit because they thought it was unwinnable.”
His rationale for this investigation of the investigators of the investigators? The aforementioned New York Times story. That’s it. One would think that Durbin would be a bit more cautious before falling for a story by the same folks that for years carried Uncle Joe Stalin’s water, and insisted that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of WMD, and that told us Russia had bounties on our troops’ heads in Afghanistan, and told us that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher by Trump supporters.
But no.
In a statement released yesterday — one that refers to the New York Times’s “bombshell” report and appears suspiciously well-orchestrated — Durbin said the following:
These reports about abuses in Special Counsel Durham’s investigation — so outrageous that even his longtime colleagues quit in protest — are but one of many instances where former President Trump and his allies weaponized the Justice Department.
The Justice Department should work on behalf of the American people, not for the personal benefit of any president. As we wait for the results of ongoing internal reviews, the Senate Judiciary Committee will do its part and take a hard look at these repeated episodes, and the regulations and policies that enabled them, to ensure such abuses of power cannot happen again.
Notice that “cannot happen again” language there at the end. Does it sound like anything you’ve heard before?
Any way we slice it, though, the Democrats seem to be behaving strangely. They seem to be nervous, panicky, almost as if they know that the contents of Durham’s report are damning.
Why else would they be paying such attention to an investigation that failed to secure even one meaningful conviction — unless one counts the wrist-slap meted out to bit-player Kevin Clinesmith for making a false statement? Indeed, it’s already been two years since an Obama-appointed judge, James Boasberg, sentenced Clinesmith to a pathetic 12 months’ probation and 400 hours of community service for having altered an email to indicate that Trump associate Carter Page was “not a source” for the CIA when in fact he was. The alteration was significant in that it paved the way for the FBI to obtain its FISA warrant to initiate surveillance on Page, which paved the way for The Corrupt FBI™ to spy on Trump himself.
Most notably and frustratingly, Durham’s investigation of the investigators failed to hold anyone else accountable for Clinesmith’s crime, and so the American people — or at least the 1% of them who have any clue as to who Clinesmith is — are left to believe that he acted alone. Which doesn’t pass the giggle test.
In any event, let’s be fully aware of what the Democrats and their Leftmedia lickspittles are doing here: They’re prebunking a report that’s bound to reveal just how dirty they are.
“The Biden Department of Justice’s intimidation against pro-life people and people of faith has been put in its place.”
Nate Jackson
The Social Justice Department tried to make an example of him and it backfired. Thankfully, all’s well that ends in acquittal for Mark Houck, the author, pro-life activist, and father of seven who was arrested during a heavily armed early-morning FBI raid over the fact that he shoved another man near a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood.
Houck’s real crime, however, is being a pro-life Catholic in the America run by Joe “Good Catholic” Biden.
On Monday, more than four months after his arrest and 15 months since the incident in question, a jury acquitted Houck of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which prohibits protesters from blocking an abortion clinic. During the October 2021 incident, Houck was more than 100 feet away from the clinic’s entrance, and he was not interfering with access for anyone, including the man with whom he had an altercation.
Houck wasn’t accused of vandalizing the clinic the way pro-abortion zealots have done to dozens of churches and pregnancy resource centers around the country. He wasn’t charged with trying to assassinate a Supreme Court justice the way a pro-abortion radical did to Brett Kavanaugh.
Instead, Houck was charged with blocking access to the clinic, which he clearly did not do, and for “attacking a patient escort” — i.e., Bruce Love, a belligerent man who was repeatedly cursing and intimidating Houck and his young son. When the ironically named Love got up in Houck’s face for the umpteenth time, Houck finally gave him a well-deserved shove to the ground.
And for that, a father of seven faced 11 years in prison, all so Joe Biden and his thugs could send a message to pro-lifers — especially any who mess with the federal-largesse recipient Planned Parenthood now that Roe has been overturned.
Local authorities declined to prosecute the case, and a lower court had already thrown out a civil case before the Biden administration threw the FBI and its top FACE Act attorney at Houck. Yet it took very little time for the jury to see through the charade.
“We took on Goliath — the full might of the United States government — and won,” proclaimed Peter Breen, head of litigation for the Thomas More Society that defended Houck. “The Biden Department of Justice’s intimidation against pro-life people and people of faith has been put in its place.”
Legally, that’s true for now in this case. Yet our oh-so-tolerant countrymen on the other side of cultural issues don’t receive such rebuke humbly, and they never stop “progressing” toward totalitarian social justice. Nevertheless, it’s always good to celebrate a win for the pro-life cause and for the Rule of Law.
Martha’s Vineyard lawsuit dismissed, Stephen Curry says NIMBY, Utah vs. the groomers, and more.
Thomas Gallatin & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Martha’s Vineyard lawsuit dismissed: When 49 illegal immigrants showed up on Martha’s Vineyard last September, one would have thought the bucolic island had just been invaded by a horde of Vikings given the response of the wealthy residents. The illegals had been sent to the island by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a brilliant move designed to highlight Joe Biden’s border malfeasance. Of course, it was less than 48 hours before all the illegals had been removed from the island, but the islanders’ hypocrisy had been exposed, and for this DeSantis had to pay for the embarrassment. Democrats ran to the media accusing DeSantis of various crimes for simply offering illegals a free ticket to Martha’s Vineyard. No one was deceived or coerced against their will, but that didn’t stop lawsuits from being raised against DeSantis. On Monday, one of those lawsuits was thrown out by a Leon County circuit judge, who rejected the claim that the Florida Department of Transportation had failed to fully comply with public records requests regarding the transport of illegals to Martha’s Vineyard. What this shows is that DeSantis has been consistently careful to play by the book. He knows how to engage in a political fight while avoiding being tripped up by opponents who attempt to throw up frivolous legal hurdles to prevent him from succeeding.
Stephen Curry says NIMBY: NBA superstar Stephen Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors, has been a vocal supporter of Joe Biden. When it comes to politics, Curry checks off all the usual leftist social justice issue boxes. However, like so many of these privileged leftists, when it comes to walking the talk, they suddenly experience a change of heart. Case in point: Curry owns a $30 million mansion in Atherton, California, a wealthy and exclusive community a few miles south of San Fransisco. Recently, Stephen and his wife, Ayesha, sent a letter to Atherton officials voicing their objection to the building of a low-income development near their home. “We hesitate to add to the ‘not in our backyard’ (literally) rhetoric, but we wanted to send a note before today’s meeting,” they wrote. “Safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home.” This from a couple active in voicing their support for various “social justice” and “racial inequality” issues. It’s yet another example of leftist elites who have no problem calling for others to sacrifice their safety and security for leftist political causes, while refusing to subject themselves to those same demands.
Utah vs. the groomers: Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox showed some backbone on Monday when he refused to back down to the demands of the Rainbow Mafia and signed into law legislation that will protect children from being physically mutilated in service to the cult of transgenderism. The bill that Cox signed will prevent children from being exploited via the deceptively termed “gender-affirming care” industry. It bans “hormonal transgender treatment to new patients who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria.” It furthermore precludes children from receiving any “gender transitioning” surgical procedures. Cox argued that the law was prudent due to the “permanent and life-altering” reality of these “treatments” with little existing research into the long-term consequences of such extreme actions. Cox noted, “We sincerely hope that we can treat our transgender families with more love and respect as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind these procedures.” Utah now becomes the latest state to ban the medical “transitioning” of children, with 18 others looking at implementing similar legislation.
Headlines
More police officers relieved of duty over death of Tyre Nichols, EMTs fired (Daily Wire)
Pakistani terrorists using weapons Biden left behind in Afghanistan (Free Beacon)
U.S. general warns country could be at war with China by 2025 (National Review)
Biden announces date for the official end of COVID emergency despite previous pandemic declaration (Fox News)
Fertility rate increases for first time since 2014 (The Hill)
Alzheimer’s Association terminates partnership with assisted-suicide advocacy group (National Review)
Gas prices creeping toward $4 per gallon on fifth straight week of gains (Washington Examiner)
New York Republican Rep. George Santos to recuse himself from committee assignments (Fox News)
Lingering redistricting lawsuits in 15 states could reshape 2024 political battlefield (Washington Examiner)
CNN announces huge lineup change with Bill Maher (Daily Caller)
Policy: Fact-check: Mass shootings actually increased during federal “assault weapons” ban (The Federalist)
Satire: Rookie trans woman picks the one sport where biological women actually have an advantage (Babylon Bee)
Parents are proving that it’s their job to decide how their children are raised.
Emmy Griffin
There seems to have been a victory on the parental coalition front. That victory was made manifest through the distraught complaining of woke teachers. According to Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson:
A report published by the RAND Corporation on Wednesday found that of a nationally representative sample of 8,000 teachers, one-quarter said they had revised their instructional materials or teaching practices to limit or exclude discussions of race and gender.
Teachers have had to change tactics and can no longer indoctrinate? They might actually have to teach the academic subject they were hired to teach? Shocking.
Parents and state law have already started to rein in the activist teachers. In fact, Natanson coauthored a piece back in October that bemoaned the number of laws restricting what teachers could and couldn’t teach. Sixty-four new state laws dealt with instruction on LGBTQ+ indoctrination, critical race theory, “transgender” children participating in sports against their biological sex, parental rights, and school libraries. States like Illinois, New Hampshire, and Delaware passed laws to allow activist teachers to carry on with their indoctrination. The rest of the state laws highlighted in Natanson’s article were the fruits of parents sticking up for their rights and wielding the government to back them up.
Natanson went on to say that these strictures were causing anxiety among the teachers. They have had to change books so as “not to offend anyone”; they have had to think twice before putting up a pride flag or Black Lives Matter flag in the classroom; and they have had to change reading material or lesson plans involving the LGBTQ+ agenda and/or critical race theory for fear of being prosecuted under the new state laws.
Why weren’t these teachers already being considerate about their actions and political statements in the classroom? If a teacher is a thoughtful and caring individual who takes their job seriously — a job that is by nature supposed to be selfless — then appropriate anxiety and worry should be a constant in their lesson planning anyway. Teaching is an enormous responsibility. A teacher is acting as the authority figure and is being entrusted with someone else’s precious children. Striving to be the best role model and working in concert with each child’s parents are part of the job.
This sentiment may be more pronounced amongst the elementary school teachers, who really strive to create a team of support for the children among parents and administrators. Middle school and high school teachers expect less parental involvement and more student self-motivation. That contrived lack of parental involvement might have given some educators a power trip. That god-like attitude might even feel justified because a fraction of parents have abdicated their role in teaching. These parents treat school like day care. To their credit, many of these parents had their eyes opened during the COVID lockdowns as to just what sort of “teaching” was going on in their child’s classroom.
Instead of rejoicing to see parents actually invested and caring about the academic growth and development of their children, the activist teachers are upset. Natanson laments the fact that the American public has lost faith in its teachers and public schools. She writes:
A Gallup poll this month found that Americans’ belief in grade-school teachers’ honesty had dropped to an all-time low of 64 percent, while a July poll found that just 28 percent of Americans have substantial confidence in public schools — the second-lowest this number has fallen since Gallup began asking about this topic in 1973.
Parents have every right to be angry at schools and activist teachers. The Gallup poll is merely reflecting what they have seen in their own children’s classrooms and read in the news. After all, Loudoun County (Virginia) Public Schools actively covered up rape due to deference to the transgender ideology; parental rights in states like California are purely dependent on compliance to the LGBTQ+ agenda; and Chicago Public Schools are handing out condoms to 10-year-olds.
Parents see the fallout. The leftist woke ideology disseminated through the public schools is hurting their children’s well-being, their academics, and their familial relationships. Teachers, school boards, and administrators are being put back in their rightful place.
All that is left to be said is this: Parents, keep fighting for your kids and for your right to parent them. Good teachers will have your back. You’re making headway, and the leftists are noticing.
Banning mining in an area containing America’s largest nickel and cobalt reserves won’t help build a green economy.
Thomas Gallatin
Near the end of his first year in office, Joe Biden placated the extreme left of his base, environmental activists, by signing an executive order committing the federal government to cut its carbon emissions 65% by the end the decade. At the time, the White House boasted that Biden’s order meant the U.S. would “lead by example in tackling the climate crisis.” In order to reach this pie-in-the-sky goal, the federal government’s fleet of more than 600,000 vehicles will be replaced by electric vehicles. Planet saved.
Net-zero emissions by 2050 is the Biden administration’s loudly hyped climate goal. To obfuscate the coming economic damage, Biden peddles this shift to green energy as a big economic opportunity for the nation. Unfortunately, words and wishes don’t magically change reality, as an America producing all its energy needs via renewables is not only a pipe dream, it’s a practical nightmare. And it certainly doesn’t help when the Biden administration locks off any access to mining the minerals needed for building a net-zero economy.
Last week, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland revoked mining permits to over 225,000 acres in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, land that contains 95% of the nation’s known nickel reserves and 88% of its cobalt. Haaland then announced a 20-year moratorium on any mining activity in the region.
The reason for revoking the permits and banning any future mining boiled down to the usual vacuous environmental sentiments with a little indigenous people’s history sprinkled in. You see, Haaland was simply acting to protect “fragile and vital social and natural resources” and the “traditional cultural values” and “subsistence-based lifestyles” of Native Americans.
The great irony here is that by closing off the nation to these resources, the Biden administration has effectively hamstrung its own ability to develop a green energy economy. If America is going to run on electric power, the country is going to need access to a lot of nickel and cobalt, both of which are necessary for the building of EV batteries.
This move will force the U.S. to become even more dependent on foreign sources for these minerals, especially hostile ones like China and Russia where protecting the environment registers far down their list of priorities. Also consider the human cost. China has a terrible human rights record, as do places such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which currently produces 70% of the world’s cobalt. The labor that takes place in those mines is notoriously inhumane, never mind the ecological damage to the surrounding environment.
So, why would the Biden administration make such a contradictory and apparently self-defeating decision? For one thing, keeping the mining of these minerals well out of sight of the American public helps to prevent any negative press from the pollution these mines could create. You don’t want any bad press for a “green” economy. So, just last month, the Biden administration announced a $30 million investment in a Brazilian nickel and cobalt mine.
Biden’s goal: Keep the mess overseas so the myth of a non-toxic, non-polluting green energy economy can continue to be peddled to the American people. In the meantime, Biden and company can tout just how much work they’re doing to stop climate change.
Joe Biden’s irrational exuberance about America’s future tells us a great deal about his state of mind.
Douglas Andrews
In all the English language, there’s hardly a string of five words more worthy of a spit take than this particular American president saying, “My word as a Biden.” It’s akin to Bill Clinton saying, “My word as a faithful husband” — which, of course, he never says.
But there he was Sunday, ol’ Scranton Joe saying just that: “My word as a Biden.” And he put it in front of this: “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future than I am today.”
The man is certifiably non compos mentis.
Where to start? With the pathological nature of Joe Biden’s penchant for lying, or with his stunning cluelessness as to the wreckage he’s wrought?
Let’s begin with the former, which includes big lies and little ones, old lies and new ones. Indeed, we can learn a lot about Biden when we consider that two of his most egregious falsehoods involve the death of family members. Biden has claimed on multiple occasions that his son Beau “lost his life in Iraq.” But the truth is that his son died of brain cancer in 2015 at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, many years after he’d left Iraq. Why Joe Biden insists on dishonoring his son’s memory in order to steal a Gold Star is anyone’s guess.
Then there’s the one in which he repeatedly and falsely blamed the death of his first wife and daughter in a car wreck on a truck driver. This man, this trucker, was a citizen and a father. Yet Biden said he “drank his lunch.” The truth, according to the police report, was that the truck driver hadn’t been drinking and wasn’t even at fault — that, in fact, Mrs. Biden “drove into the path” of the tractor-trailer.
It’s impossible to cram Biden’s biggest whoppers into a standard paragraph, but here’s a sampler of the lies he’s told in an effort to claim identity in one constituent group or another: He said he was “appointed” to the U.S. Naval Academy. He said he was arrested in South Africa while trying to see Nelson Mandela. He said he was arrested during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. And he said he used to drive an 18-wheeler for a living. In addition, Biden has claimed to have visited the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh after a 2018 massacre there, claimed to have been raised by Puerto Ricans, claimed to have hit a towering home run in a congressional baseball game, and claimed gas prices were above $5 when he took office. Lies, lies, and more lies.
The dude makes Walter Mitty seem like Walter Cronkite.
Then there’s his abject failure as the head of our government. As The Daily Signal’s Jarrett Stepman notes, the average American family has lost $7,100 in purchasing power to inflation during the Biden era; we’ve seen our national debt explode to $31 trillion, which amounts to more than $94,000 for every American man, woman, and child; and we’ve witnessed a premeditated border catastrophe in which five million mostly unskilled illegal immigrants have poured into our country. On top of this, we’ve seen the Biden administration implement one of the president’s 2021 executive orders to devastating effect — namely, his order to establish a woke administrative state via a “government-wide initiative to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all parts of the federal workforce.”
Perhaps most telling of all, though, is what we learned just yesterday in a new Gallup poll. As it turns out, more Americans — 21% of them — name the government as the nation’s top problem than any other issue. That’s more than inflation, more than unchecked illegal immigration, more than violent crime, more than wokeness, more than anything.
And who is it that heads this broken, ineffective, unsatisfactory government of ours? That’s right: Joe Biden.
As for optimism, well, Ole Joe doesn’t have much company there, either, as 71% of Americans think the country’s on the wrong track.
But remember: We have his word as a Biden. His word. As a Biden.
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“President Biden traveled 10 miles from the White House to Springfield, Virginia, Thursday for what was clearly a campaign event, but the taxpayers are picking up the tab anyway. He repeatedly attacked ‘MAGA Republicans’ throughout his speech. But when he wasn’t attacking Republicans, he was bragging about the Biden/Harris economy. … It’s a bit of an exaggeration to suggest, as the president did, that ‘the Biden economic plan is working,’ and that ‘we’re moving in the right direction.’ As Senator John Kennedy noted, ‘President Biden is the only person in the [galaxy] who thinks our country is headed in the right direction.’” —Gary Bauer
The BIG Lie
“I might have used words at the time that I didn’t understand were trafficking in antisemitism. … I certainly did not or was not aware that the word ‘hypnotize’ was a trope. I wasn’t aware of the fact that there are tropes about Jews and money. … To insinuate that I knowingly said these things, when people have read into my comments to make it sound as if I have something against the Jewish community, is so wrong.” —Congresswoman Ilhan Omar
Non Compos Mentis
“I think race is still on the table.” —NYC Mayor Eric Adams vis-à-vis Tyre Nichols
“These cops were blue before they were black. … This is why in the midst of all of this happening, banning AP African-American studies in Florida is the wrong thing to do because we need to learn from history.” —”The View” co-host Ana Navarro
And Last…
“Apparently, five black police officers involved in the alleged murder of a black man are emissaries of white supremacy. Or alternatively, members of the media largely care about narrative more than actual fact.” —Ben Shapiro
The White House’s lack of transparency regarding classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home and former office has followed a tactic used regarding the president’s physical exams, some Republicans say.
CNN’s morning show centered around Don Lemon has been on a steady ratings decline through its first three months, shedding additional viewers from its audience each time the calendar flips.
“CNN This Morning,” an ensemble morning program featuring Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, officially replaced the long-struggling “New Day” on Nov. 1. The new program was the brainchild of CNN CEO Chris Licht, who previously had morning show success at both MSNBC and CBS, and his longtime lieutenant Ryan Kadro, who once succeeded Licht as executive producer of “CBS This Morning.”
To create the show, CNN plucked Lemon from primetime and surrounded him with Harlow and Collins, his off-camera pals who are both known to be well-liked in journalism circles. Despite Licht and Kadro’s reputation as morning show kingmakers, “CNN This Morning” has failed to resonate with viewers.
In November, “CNN This Morning” averaged an underwhelming 454,000 total viewers. The following month, it managed only 389,000 in December. “CNN This Morning” then dropped to 373,000 average viewers in January, shedding 18% of November’s audience.
“New Day” averaged 413,000 daily viewers in 2022 before it was canceled to outdraw its Lemon-helmed replacement’s January viewership by 10%.
It was much of the same among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults age 25-54, as “CNN This Morning” managed only 74,000 average viewers among the critical category in January for a 25% drop compared to its launch month.
In the three months since CNN’s new morning show premiered, “FOX & Friends” has averaged 1.3 million viewers to top it by a staggering 229% among total viewers. Among the key demo, “FOX & Friends” has averaged 190,000 viewers to thump “CNN This Morning” by 126%.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where Licht found success when he helped launch the program in 2007, has outdrawn “CNN This Morning” by 115% among total viewers and 23% in the demo.
Despite poor viewership, “CNN This Morning” has generated headlines on multiple occasions.
Lemon recently declared it “feels like the 1950s all over again” because “book banning” occurring at schools, and he’s clashed with everyone from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to Republican lawmaker Will Hurd.
“CNN This Morning” also found itself culturally relevant among the left earlier this month when late-night host Stephen Colbert mocked Lemon’s wardrobe.
“I believe a great man once said, ‘What the f— is that?'” Colbert joked while showing an image of Lemon wearing a hooded sweater under a sports coat.
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The cost to fuel electric vehicles in the United States is higher than gas-powered cars for the first time in 18 months, a consulting company said.
“In Q4 2022, typical mid-priced ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car drivers paid about $11.29 to fuel their vehicles for 100 miles of driving. That cost was around $0.31 cheaper than the amount paid by mid-priced EV drivers charging mostly at home, and over $3 less than the cost borne by comparable EV drivers charging commercially,” Anderson Economic Group (AEG) said in an analysis.
A Tesla Inc. electric vehicle charges at a supercharger station in Redondo Beach, Calif., on Jan. 4, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
However, luxury EVs still enjoy a cost advantage against their gas-powered counterparts.
It costs luxury EV owners $12.4 to drive every 100 miles on average if they charge their cars mostly at home or $15.95 if they charge their cars mostly at commercial charger stations in the 4th quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, the fuel costs for luxury gas-powered cars are $19.96 per 100 miles on average.
AEG is a consulting firm based in Michigan that offers research and consulting in economics, valuation, market analysis, and public policy, according to the company’s website.
The fuel costs in the analysis are based on real-world U.S. driving conditions including the cost of underlying energy, state taxes charged for road maintenance, the cost of operating a pump or charger, and the cost to drive to a fueling station, AEG said.
Insurers List Crashed Low-Mileage Tesla on Auctions: Analysis
Insurance carriers are sending low-mileage Tesla Model Ys to salvage auctions because they are too expensive to repair.
Of more than 120 Model Ys that were totaled after collisions, then listed at auction in December and early January, the vast majority had fewer than 10,000 miles on the odometer, according to a Reuters analysis based on online data from Copart and IAA, the two largest salvage auction houses in the United States.
Copart and IAA auction listings note whether the vehicles were involved in front, rear, or side collisions, and typically include after-crash photos of each vehicle. But the listings do not disclose specific details on the type of damage suffered.
Copart listings in some cases included the names of insurance companies that had bought back crashed vehicles, then listed them at auction. Those companies include State Farm, Geico, Progressive, and Farmers. Geico is part of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), an influential House conservative who recently chaired the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and is currently the presumptive favorite for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat, is pressing Democrat President Joe Biden to publicly release a classified report that details the nature of the relationship between Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Chinese spy Fang Fang.
Democrats are once again piling on Vice President Kamala Harris, questioning her “basic political skills” and avoiding outright endorsing her for the presidency if Joe Biden somehow decides not to run next year.
According to Washington Post reporter Cleve R. Wootson Jr., several Democrats have anonymously expressed concern about the potential for her to lead the party or even remain as vice president after 2024, Fox News reported.
In his Monday story titled “Some Democrats are worried about Harris’s political prospects,” Wootson noted that it was based on interviews with “more than a dozen Democratic leaders in key states,” adding that several prominent members of the party have concerns about Harris’ political future based on her VP experience.
“Harris’s tenure has been underwhelming, they said, marked by struggles as a communicator and at times near-invisibility, leaving many rank-and-file Democrats unpersuaded that she has the force, charisma, and skill to mount a winning presidential campaign,” he wrote.
“People are poised to pounce on anything — any misstep, any gaffe, anything she says — and so she’s probably not getting the benefit of the doubt,” said former Cobb County Democrats Chair Jacquelyn Bettadapur, a Harris supporter. She added, “It doesn’t help that she’s not [that] adept as a communicator.”
The story comes on the heels of a radio interview with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who praised Harris personally but refused to endorse her vice presidency in the upcoming election cycle.
“I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team,” Warren said Friday. “I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was an attorney general and I was still teaching and we worked on the housing crisis together, so we go way back. But they need — they have to be a team, and my sense is they are — I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems. I think they are.”
Wootson went on to report that Warren issued a statement on Sunday clarifying her remarks: “I fully support the president’s and vice president’s re-election together, and never intended to imply otherwise.”
Fox News added:
Among other Democrats, however, the article elaborated on the fears that “Americans are simply not willing to elect a woman of color as president” while “Harris herself lacks the political skills to win a national race.”
“And given the increasingly hard-edged tone of the Republican Party, they add, few Democrats are willing to roll the dice,” Wootsen wrote.
There are not the first Democratic criticisms of Harris.
Due to her immense unpopularity, and that of President Joe Biden, there have been whispers of Biden possibly nominating Harris to the Supreme Court and replacing her on the ticket for 2024, or, having someone replace Biden entirely, The Telegraph reported in November.
The news site explained, in a series of tweets, that the rumors, which are still “improbable,” show the desperation of the Democrat Party.
“With Kamala Harris looking unelectable,
the Democrats
are considering the nuclear option. Whispers in Washington suggest Joe Biden’s camp has a plan to find a more popular replacement ahead of the 2024 battle,” one tweet said. “Democrats desperately scrambling to find a potential successor to Joe Biden in 2024 are whispering about a potential nuclear option that could see Kamala Harris nominated to the Supreme Court.”
“Polls are now regularly showing Mr. Biden’s approval rating below 40 percent. Panic set in at the White House after a recent poll put Kamala Harris at an unelectable 28 percent,” the outlet noted further.
Meanwhile, the mainstream media has begun pushing a narrative of infighting and a potential 2024 shake-up on the Democratic ticket.
In a scathing piece published by The Hill, Douglas MacKinnon suggested that Democrats could be “in a world of hurt” if they don’t “look beyond the current occupants of the White House.”
“About two months ago, I wrote an article suggesting that President Biden should replace his vice president, Kamala Harris, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and then resign, to give Democrats a better chance at retaining the White House in 2024. Though of course, it was not a game plan that Biden would ever entertain, my intent was to ignite a discussion on the viability of a ticket led by either Biden or Harris going forward. And my point still stands: When it comes to picking a presidential ticket for 2024, many people believe — including some liberals — the Democratic Party could be in a world of hurt if it doesn’t look beyond the current occupants of the White House,” wrote MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant.
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