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
Experts in financial investing understand that investor memory is not to be relied upon. Investors tend to downplay or even forget downturns in the market and remember very clearly the upswings with exciting returns. We tend not to learn from the pain. The book of Judges can feel a lot like those financial markets. The nation swung from times of obedience and victory to times of disobedience and suffering. Their situation reflected the forgetfulness of people and their need for a strong, godly leader. They didn’t learn from the pain; someone would have to guide them.When Joshua died, no national leader emerged to shepherd the nation, and they lost spiritual momentum. They failed to drive the Canaanites out and instead became like them! God disciplined Israel by empowering their enemies. The discipline had its intended effect; the people turned to God and begged for help. God raised up judges, who led them to victory and a time of righteousness (v. 16). But when the judge died, like a forgetful investor, they forgot the bad times and turned from the Lord again and again.Turning from the Lord meant following other gods, serving and even worshiping them (v. 19). As expected, their disobedience provoked the Lord to anger, and He declared that He would not drive out the Canaanites before them. Instead, they would remain as a test for Israel (v. 22). It was a test they would often fail. But during this difficult time, there were some Israelites who dedicated themselves to obeying the Lord and following His commands. An example is given in the book of Ruth. We are reminded that following God takes sacrificial commitment, and the blessings God showered upon the faithful are worth the sacrifice!
Go Deeper Have you minimized the effects of sin in your life? Have you forgotten what life apart from God looks like? Take time to remind yourself of your need to remain close to Him. Extended Reading: Judges 1-2; Ruth
Pray with Us Merciful Father, we receive Your somber warning today about the deadly power of sin in our lives. May we stay close to You and to Your faithful love, we pray.
For those who are rich and prosperous in the world, some of whom perhaps need prayers as much as those who request them.
Lord, keep those who are rich in this present age from being haughty and setting their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, and give them to trust in God, who richly provides everyone with everything to enjoy: That they may do good and be rich in good works, generous and ready to share; that they may store up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future. 1 Timothy 6:17-19(ESV)
Though it is hard for those who are rich to enter into the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 19:24(ESV) yet with you this is possible. Matthew 19:26(ESV)
For those who are poor and in affliction, for such we have always with us.
Lord, make those who are poor in the world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, James 2:5(ESV) and give to them to receive the gospel.
O that the poor of the flock may wait upon you and may know the word of the LORD. Zechariah 11:11(ESV)
Many are the afflictions of the righteous; good Lord, deliver them out of them all. Psalm 34:19(ESV) And though for the moment all affliction seems painful rather than pleasant; nevertheless, later let it yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11(ESV)
For our enemies and those who hate us.
Lord, give me to love my enemies, to bless those who curse me, and to pray for those who despitefully use me and persecute me. Matthew 5:44(ESV)
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; Luke 23:34(ESV) and do not hold their malice against them; Acts 7:60(ESV) and work in me a disposition to bear with others and forgive in love, Colossians 3:13(ESV) as you require I should whenever I pray. Mark 11:25(ESV)
And grant that my ways may so please the LORD, that even my enemies may be at peace with me. Proverbs 16:7(ESV)
Let the wolf dwell with the lamb, Isaiah 11:6(ESV) and let there be none to hurt or destroy in all your holy mountain; Isaiah 11:9(ESV) let Ephraim not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah harass Ephraim. Isaiah 11:13(ESV)
For our friends and those who love us.
And I wish for all those whom I love in truth, that all may go well with them and that they may be in good health; I especially pray that it may go well with their souls. 3 John 1:2(ESV)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with their spirits. Philemon 1:25(ESV)
Matthew 5 This week’s lessons on the Beatitudes teach us that true happiness comes by living in a way that is contrary to the world and even to our natural way of thinking.
Theme
When Persecution Comes
Yesterday we concluded by saying that because God has made peace with us, we must be peacemakers toward others. Among other things, we must be peacemakers in the home. Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote:
Every minister knows that adjustments must be made by two people who have stopped living in single liberty to take up life with each other. At the time of their wedding, a man and woman are like two planets which have been going around the sun at different speeds and in different orbits. Now they must travel in the same orbit at the same speed. For if they pursue the same path at different speeds, sooner or later there will be a planetary crash.
How can such collisions be avoided? Each person must pursue the things that make for peace. I know of a home where the wife asked the husband to repair an electric light over the kitchen sink, and he promised to do so. Next day she again asked him to fix the light and again he promised, but with some irritation. Two or three days later she asked again, and he shouted at her to stop nagging him. Finally, the matter became a source of great tension between them. . . .
The way to avoid such difficulties in the adjustment of husband and wife is to have prayer together every day, asking the Lord to keep both in the way of peace. It is also good for each to be willing to face weaknesses in self and to ask the other, “Is there something that I do that annoys you?” And when the answer is given in love, it is a small matter for love to remove the annoyance.1
We are to work for peace in all areas of our lives: in the community where we work, at church, school, store, or on the international scene. In yourself you may not want to be a peacemaker. You may want to retaliate for wrongs and lash out against personal hurts. But this is not Christ’s way. He says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
The last beatitude is about persecution: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We need to point out that this is persecution because of righteousness and not for being obnoxious, difficult, foolish, or insulting to those who are not yet Christians. The blessing promised is for persecution for righteousness’ sake only.
But how can persecution add to a Christian’s happiness? Let me suggest these ways. First, persecution is evidence that the believer is Christ’s. Jesus said, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:19). If we are persecuted for Christ’s sake, and not because we are obnoxious, we can be happy in this evidence that we are His.
Second, if we are persecuted because of righteousness, we can be certain that the Holy Spirit has been at work in us, turning us from sin and molding us into Christ’s own sinless image. I think here of the example of Job. Early in the story God commends Job as a righteous man. As the story progresses, Satan takes away all Job’s possessions, livelihood, and family. Then he strikes Job physically. In a few short days Job is reduced from being a man of influence and affluence to sitting upon a heap of ashes, covered with boils, loathsome both in his own sight and in the sight of others. Job was suffering because of righteousness. Yet in all this suffering Job did not curse God with his lips. He did not sin.
We may not understand what God is doing when we suffer. So far as I can tell, Job did not understand what God was doing either. But God was bringing glory to Himself. He was showing that a person who possesses the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ will serve and love God regardless of the circumstances. And that is a glorious thing! For it shows that Jesus Christ does make a difference. If we follow in the way Christ sets before us, we will experience the joy and the blessedness about which He speaks.
1Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Glory, vol. 10 of Exposition of Bible Doctrines, Taking the Epistle of Romans as a Point of Departure (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964), 23.
Study Questions
By what two ways can persecution add to a Christian’s happiness? Can you think of any others?
Can you give examples of being persecuted for righteousness’ sake? By contrast, can you give examples of suffering for being foolish and confusing it with suffering for righteousness?
Application
Reflection: When was the last time you were persecuted in some way for the sake of righteousness? How did it strengthen your walk with the Lord and encourage you in your witness and service to others?
For Further Study: To learn more about how the Bible governs the life of the Christian, download and listen for free to James Boice’s message, “Walking by God’s Word.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
This is why people become afraid–because they lose faith. Faith is the answer to fear. Faith is always the answer to our fears, regardless of what they are. Jesus put His finger right on it: Do you still have no faith?
Well, evidently they did not. They had forgotten all the things He said to them in the Sermon on the Mount about the extent of God’s care for them: Are you not much more valuable than flowers and birds? God cares for them; will he not much more care for you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30). Here Jesus was in the boat with them; their fate would be His fate; and yet they had forgotten this.
How would these men have acted, do you think, if they had faith? Suppose their faith had been strong–their faith in Him and in God’s care and love–what would they have done? One thing is certain: they would not have wakened Him; they would have let Him rest. He was tired and needed the rest badly. They would have done so because their faith would have reminded them of two great facts: First, the boat will not sink; it cannot sink when the Master of ocean and earth and sky is in it. Second, the storm will not last forever.
A good friend of mine, a handsome young evangelist from another country, told me about all the troubles he and his wife were going through. He was dejected. She was struggling with severe physical problems, ill health arising from asthma and bronchitis, which constantly kept her down. They had gone through years of struggle with this condition of hers already, and it seemed to pull the bottom out of everything he attempted to do. Here they were planning to go back to their own country, and now she was sick again. He came to me discouraged.
I remember turning to this incident in Mark and reciting this story and saying to him, Remember, the boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever. That is having faith–to remember those facts. He thanked me, we prayed together, and he left. I did not see him for a couple of months; then we ran into each other. I said, How are things going? How is your wife? He said, Oh, not much better. She’s still having terrible struggles. She can’t breathe and can’t take care of the children or the house, and we have a hard time. But I do remember two things: the boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever! So I prayed with him again.
After a while I received a note from him. He and his family had gone back to their country, and there they had found the answer. A doctor discovered a minor deficiency in his wife’s diet that needed to be remedied. When that was done, the asthma and bronchitis disappeared, and she was in glorious, radiant health, and they were rejoicing together. At the bottom of the page he had written, The boat will not sink, and the storm will not last forever.
I thank You. Lord, that You are here with me to comfort and strengthen me, to reassure me, and to take me through whatever storms may come. I know You are not here to stop the storms from coming, but to take me through them.
Life Application
How would we respond to our fears if we acted on the basis of faith in God’s sovereignty? Today’s circumstances allow us to see our lives from His point of view.
35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
1They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
9Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolishow much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (22:42)
The goal of all true prayer is that God’s will be done. Those who genuinely feel the affliction caused by sin and temptation are motivated to submit to Him. In Psalm 40:8 David exclaimed, “I delight to do Your will, O my God,” while in Psalm 143:10 he pleaded, “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Jesus’ model prayer teaches those who address God in prayer to say, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10; cf. Luke 11:2). The apostle John wrote, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14–15). Submission to God’s will is foundational to prayer. Jesus’ request, “Father, if You are willing,” highlights once again the contrast between His temptation and those of believers. He submitted to the Father’s will that He be made sin; believers pray that they might submit to God’s will by forsaking sin and embracing holiness. Mark records that Jesus addressed the Father using the intimate, endearing, affectionate term “Abba” (Mark 14:36), revealing the earnestness and intensity of His plea. No Jew would ever call God Father, let alone Abba. But the Lord uses this affectionate, personal term to refer to God, pleading for His intimate love to rescue Him if He wills. The word “cup” is frequently associated with judgment in the Old Testament (Pss. 11:6; 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15–17; 49:12; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:31–33; Hab. 2:16; Zech. 12:2). Here it also refers to the agony, guilt, and wrath associated with God’s judgment of Jesus on the cross. Some have imagined that the Lord’s plea, “if You are willing, remove this cup from Me,” was a sign of weakness on His part. But it was not weakness that prompted this request, rather the opposite. His absolute holiness demanded that He recoil at the thought of bearing sin, guilt, judgment, and wrath. No other response was possible for the eternally sinless Son of God. Jesus accepted that the cross was God’s plan. In John 12 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (v. 24); “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (v. 27); “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (v. 32). In Mark 8:31 “He began to teach [the disciples] that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (cf. 9:31; Luke 9:22, 44). On the final journey to Jerusalem Jesus
took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” (Mark 10:32–34)
In spite of experiencing satanic assaults beyond the capacity of the human mind to experience or conceive and agonizing over the prospect of bearing sin, Jesus fully submitted to the Father’s will for Him to be the sin offering (2 Cor. 5:21) so that redemption of God’s elect would be accomplished. Therefore He prayed, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Jesus soon demonstrated the reality of that submission when He said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11).
MacArthur, J. (2014). Luke 18–24 (pp. 303–305). Moody Publishers.
41, 42. And he withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down, and continued in prayer, saying, Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. Note the following: a. “A stone’s throw” probably from the eight disciples near the garden’s entrance. The three disciples would still be close enough to Jesus to see what he did and to hear what he said. To be sure, as the Savior kept on praying and agonizing these men fell asleep. But nothing prevents us from believing that they had kept awake long enough to preserve for that and later generations of believers a record of what happened here. b. As to Christ’s prayer as here recorded, careful study of the three separate petitions as reported by Matthew (26:39, 42, 44), the second and third being identical, shows that the one prayer of Luke 22:42 faithfully reproduces the essence of the three petitions of which Matthew makes mention. Though it will never be possible for our minds to penetrate into the mystery of the horror Jesus experienced in Gethsemane, we cannot be far amiss if we state that it probably included at least this, that he was given a preview of the agonies of the fast approaching crucifixion. He had a foretaste of what it meant to be “forsaken” by his heavenly Father. And is it not reasonable to assume that during these dreadful periods of anguish Satan and his demons assaulted him, with the intention of causing him to turn aside from the path of obedience to God? Cf. Ps. 22:12, 13. The best commentary on what Jesus experienced in Gethsemane is surely the inspired statement of Heb. 5:7, “He offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears.…” c. He prayed that “this cup,” this terrible impending experience climaxed by the cross and the sense of complete abandonment, might be spared him. As with his entire human nature he recoiled before this terror, he “knelt down” (so Luke), “fell on his face” (so Matthew). He was, as it were, being torn apart by agony. d. To be noted especially, and this in all the reports, hence also here in Luke, is the Sufferer’s complete and unqualified submission to the will of his heavenly Father: “nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.”
Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (Vol. 11, pp. 982–983). Baker Book House.
42 It is fitting that Luke, who throughout his gospel stresses Jesus’ conscious fulfillment of the purposes of God, should now emphasize Jesus’ concern for the will of God. “If you are willing” (ei boulei, v. 42) is absent from Matthew and Mark at this point, though they do have the rest of v. 42. As in Matthew 20:22 and Mark 10:38, Jesus uses the “cup” as a metaphor of his imminent passion. Some, however, have imagined that this metaphor implies that Jesus faced death with less bravery than others have faced it. (But to shrink from a painful death is not necessarily cowardice; the highest bravery may consist in being fully cognizant of impending and agonizing death and yet to embrace it voluntarily.) At any rate, it has been suggested that the cup Jesus feared was that he might die from the strain he was under before he could willingly offer himself on the cross. But this view fails to recognize that Jesus would not have been as concerned with the physical pain of his death as with the spiritual desolation of bearing our sin and its judgment on the cross (2 Co 5:21; 1 Pe 2:24). Moreover, in the OT the wrath of God expressed against sin was sometimes referred to by the metaphor of a “cup” (e.g., Ps 11:6, where the NIV translates kôs as “lot” rather than “cup”; cf. Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15–17).
Liefeld, W. L., & Pao, D. W. (2007). Luke. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, p. 320). Zondervan.
The upright shall have good things in possession. (Proverbs 28:10)
The book of Proverbs is also a book of promises. Promises ought to be proverbs among the people of God. This is a very remarkable one. We are accustomed to think of our good things as in reversion, but here we are told that we shall have them in possession. Not all the malice and cunning of our enemies can work our destruction: they shall fall into the pit which they have digged. Our inheritance is so entailed upon us that we shall not be kept out of it, nor so turned out of the way as to miss it. But what have we now? We have a quiet conscience through the precious blood of Jesus. We have the love of God set upon us beyond all change. We have power with God in prayer in all time of need. We have the providence of God to watch over us, the angels of God to minister to us, and, above all, the Spirit of God to dwell in us. In fact, all things are ours. “Whether things present or things to come: all are yours.” Jesus is ours. Yea, the divine Trinity in unity is ours. Hallelujah. Let us not pine and whine and stint and slave, since we have good things in possession. Let us live on our God and rejoice in Him all the day. Help us, 0 Holy Ghost!
When I think about how Christianity has changed my life, I’m often reminded of the relationship I have with my wife. We met in high school—she was a sophomore, I was a senior—and like any young guy trying to earn the attention of someone he admired, I did everything I could to impress her. I courted her with persistence and intention, doing all the little things that let her know she mattered. Back then, every gesture was about trying to “win” her. But now, after many years of marriage, I still find myself doing those same things—not because I’m trying to earn her love, but because I already have it. I can’t help it. When you love someone deeply, your actions flow naturally from that love. You’re not chasing something you don’t have; you’re expressing something that’s already real.
That’s what happened to me when I became a Christian. My wife and I weren’t believers for the first eighteen years of our relationship. It was her idea, really, to step into a church one Sunday. I went along, more to support her than anything else. But that decision set something in motion that I couldn’t ignore. Before I was ready to believe any of this, I wanted to know if it was true. So I did what detectives do—I investigated. I spent months combing through first-century history, reading everything I could about Jesus, and studying the reliability of the Gospels. I wanted to make a case, to know if I could trust what was written. It was hard work, but it mattered to me.
Eventually, the evidence became undeniable. Once I accepted that Jesus was who He claimed to be, everything in me shifted. I couldn’t believe that God would care so deeply about us that He’d step into His own creation and do what He did to rescue us. That kind of love can’t be earned; it’s freely given. Once you see it—once you know that your relationship with God is secure because of what He’s done, not what you’ve done—you start to live differently. You stop performing, and you start responding.
We all know what it’s like to do good things because someone’s watching—because the camera’s on. But that’s performance, not transformation. What God offers through grace isn’t a demand that we behave a certain way to earn His approval. It’s an invitation to respond to His love because it’s already been given. When you really understand that, your life changes—not from obligation, but from gratitude.
Other worldviews often tie moral behavior to salvation. People behave well because they have to—it’s the way to earn divine favor. But Christianity is the opposite. Grace is unmerited favor. We’ve been given what we do not deserve, and when that truth grips you, you respond the only way you can—with a transformed life. It’s not about having to do good things; it’s that you can’t help but do them.
One of the most profound moments that captures this truth is in Luke 7, when Jesus visits Simon the Pharisee. As they share a meal, a woman—known for her sinful past—comes in and washes Jesus’ feet with her tears, anointing them with perfume. Simon’s thinking, “If Jesus knew who she was, He wouldn’t let her touch Him.” But Jesus stops him. He tells Simon that while he, the religious man, hadn’t offered even basic hospitality, this woman showed extravagant love. Why? Because she knew how much she had been forgiven. Jesus tells Simon a story about two people who owed debts—one small, one enormous. The one who owes more feels greater love when the debt is forgiven.
That story hit me hard. The least forgiving people are often those who think they have little to be forgiven for. But when you realize the depth of what God has done for you—how much grace you’ve received—you can’t help but extend that same grace to others. Christianity doesn’t just offer new beliefs; it offers transformation. It changes how you see people, how you forgive, how you love.
The least forgiving people are often those who think they have little to be forgiven for. Share on X
I no longer live trying to earn God’s approval. I live in response to it. And that’s what makes Christianity so radically life-changing. When you understand what’s been done for you, you can’t help but live differently—and that kind of transformation is the truest evidence of a changed heart.
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Christianity teaches Jesus Christ as the sole way to heaven: exclusive in rejecting unrepentant sin and alternative paths, yet inclusive by offering salvation to all people who repent, believe in the Son, and obey Him, restoring humanity to fellowship with God through Christ alone eternally.
Exclusive
Christianity is the way to heaven. It is the only way. More specifically, the way to heaven is belief in the Son.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, (John 1:12)
John wrote the Book of John so that we may believe. You might be surprised to know that the word faith is not discussed in the book of John. But the word belief is all over that book.
1. The Christianity of the Bible is exclusive in that the faith will not accept sinners into it. You cannot have Jesus and your sin, too. Repentance is key, and obedience to Him who gives the spirit of repentance. Unrepentant homosexuals will not enter heaven. (1 Corinthians 6:9). Nor will idolaters, nor adulterers nor any other unrepentant sinner, no matter what their flavor of sin. Religious diversity is a lie. (Isaiah 45:5). Tolerance of sin is death. (Revelation 2:20-23).
2. Christianity is exclusive of people who come another way, except through the Son. Those who try to come in another way are a thief and a robber. (John 10:1). The following “inclusive” doctrines or religions are false.
Universalism, the belief that eventually all persons are saved, or,
Inclusivism, which assumes that all world religions point to a common truth that at the end of the day will be discovered to have been Christ. (source)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). underline mine.
If you believe you can reach the Father in heaven through Buddha or Ganesh or Allah or Thor or by any other god, then what Jesus said above is a lie. If Jesus lied, then that means Bible can’t be trusted, because Jesus said all scripture points to Himself. (John 5:39).
Inclusive
1. Christianity is inclusive in that there does exist a way to reach the Father. God’s perfect fellowship, perfect harmony, and perfect delight within His three persons was all sufficient for eons. In eternity after some time had passed, (an oxymoron, I know), God created man. However, in His timing and for His reasons, He chose to create man to include man as the beneficiary of His love.
1a. After the Fall, man was excluded from heaven. No one could see the Father at any time. Ever. The inclusiveness of Christianity means that God sent His Son to make a way to include Humans as beneficiary of His intra-Trinitarian fellowship once more. Humans can be included once again.
2. Christianity is inclusive in that any person from any tribe, nation, or tongue who has believed on the Son and is continually obedient to Him is saved. People from the north, south, east, and west are going to be represented at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9).
Christianity includes both genders, male and female. Greek and Jew. Slave and free. Old and young. Rich or poor. (Galatians 3:8, Titus 2:1-6, James 2:3). Those who would repent and believe will be included, no matter their station in life. The only boundary to the inclusivity of Jesus is the person’s response to Him.
Don’t apologize that Jesus is the only way to heaven. It is truth. And if a person really, truly understood sin, they would be grateful that there exists a way to heaven at all! And how many ways do we need? We can only travel on one road at a time. I much prefer the narrow path that Jesus gave us than some broad path that man made.
Jesus Christ is the exclusive way to heaven. I’m glad, because He is perfect, He is righteous, and He is wonderful. His way never changes. We never get lost on His way, once we’re found, we’re found. Best of all, His way takes care of sin once and for all. No other way does that, can do that, or ever will do that.
Jesus is the only way. He is both exclusive and inclusive. If you believe this message, you’re probably included. If you do not believe this message, you’re excluded. You see, belief in the Son means His way, or no way. Jesus not only taught he is both inclusive and exclusive at the same time, but He is the dividing line between the two.
Discover a scriptural perspective on aging that reframes it not as decline, but as a divine process of growth, purpose, and deeper faith. Learn how to embrace each season of life with peace and grace, celebrating the timeless qualities.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (6:19–21)
Layup (thēsaurizō) and treasures (thēsauros) come from the same basic Greek term, which is also the source of our English thesaurus, a treasury of words. A literal translation of this phrase would therefore be, “do not treasure up treasures for yourselves.” The Greek also carries the connotation of stacking or laying out horizontally, as one stacks coins. In the context of this passage the idea is that of stockpiling or hoarding, and therefore pictures wealth that is not being used. The money or other wealth is simply stored for safekeeping; it is kept for the keeping’s sake to make a show of wealth or to create an environment of lazy overindulgence (cf. Luke 12:16–21). It is clear from this passage, as well as from many others in Scripture, that Jesus is not advocating poverty as a means to spirituality. In all of His many different instructions, He only once told a person to “sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21). In that particular case, the young man’s wealth was his idol, and therefore a special barrier between him and the lordship of Jesus Christ. It provided an excellent opportunity to test whether or not that man was fully committed to turning over the control of his life to Christ. His response proved that he was not. The problem was not in the wealth itself, but the man’s unwillingness to part with it. The Lord did not specifically require His disciples to give up all their money and other possessions to follow Him, although it may be that some of them voluntarily did so. He did require obedience to His commands no matter what that cost. The price was too high for the wealthy young ruler, to whom possessions were the first priority. Both testaments recognize the right to material possessions, including money, land, animals, houses, clothing, and every other thing that is honestly acquired. God has made many promises of material blessing to those who belong to and are faithful to Him. The foundational truth that underlies the commandments not to steal or covet is the right of personal property. Stealing and coveting are wrong because what is stolen or coveted rightfully belongs to someone else. Ananias and Sapphira did not forfeit their lives because they kept back some of the proceeds from the sale of their property, but because they lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). Holding back some of the money was selfish, especially if they had other assets on which to live, but they had a right to keep it, as Peter makes plain: “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control?” (v. 4). God expects, in fact commands, His people to be generous. But He also expects, and even commands, them not only to be thankful for but to enjoy the blessings He gives—including the material blessings. The Lord “richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). That verse is specifically directed to “those who are rich in this present world,” and yet it does not command, or even suggest, that they divest themselves of their wealth, but rather warns them not to be conceited about it or to trust in it. Abraham was extremely rich for his day, a person who vied in wealth, influence, and military power with many of the kings in Canaan. When we first meet Job he is vastly wealthy, and when we leave him—after the testing that cost him everything he possessed outside of his own life—God has made him wealthier still, in flocks and herds, in sons and daughters, and in a healthy long life. “And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (Job 42:12–17). The Bible gives considerable counsel for working hard and following good business practices (cf. Matt. 25:27). The ant is shown as a model of the good worker, who “prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest” (Prov. 6:6–8). We are told that “in all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (14:23) and “by wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (24:3–4). “He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty” (28:19). Paul tells us that parents are responsible for saving up for their children (2 Cor. 12:14), that “if anyone will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10), and that “if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). During his exceptionally long ministry, which spanned most of the eighteenth century, John Wesley earned a considerable amount of money from his published sermons and other works. Yet he left only 28 pounds when he died, because he continually gave what he earned to the Lord’s work. It is right to provide for our families, to make reasonable plans for the future, to make wise investments, and to have money to carry on a business, give to the poor, and support the Lord’s work. It is being dishonest, greedy, covetous, stingy, and miserly about possessions that is wrong. To honestly earn, save, and give is wise and good; to hoard and spend only on ourselves not only is unwise but sinful. Some years ago, I happened to have contact with two quite wealthy men during the same week. One was a former professor at a major university who, through a long series of good investments in real estate, had accumulated a fortune of possibly a hundred million dollars. But in the process he lost his family, his happiness, his peace of mind, and had aged far beyond his years. The other man, a pastor, also acquired his wealth through investments, but they were investments to which he paid little attention. Because of his financial independence, he gave to his church over the years considerably more than he was paid for being its pastor. He is one of the godliest, happiest, most fruitful, and contented persons I have ever met. The key to Jesus’ warning here is yourselves. When we accumulate possessions simply for our own sakes—whether to hoard or to spend selfishly and extravagantly—those possessions become idols. It is possible that both our treasures upon earth and our treasures in heaven can involve money and other material things. Possessions that are wisely, lovingly, willingly, and generously used for kingdom purposes can be a means of accumulating heavenly possessions. When they are hoarded and stored, however, they not only become a spiritual hindrance but are subject to loss through moth, rust, and thieves. In ancient times, wealth was frequently measured in part by clothing. Compared to our day of mass-produced clothes, garments represented a considerable investment. Rich people sometimes had golden threads woven into their clothing, both to display and to store their wealth. But the best clothes were made of wool, which the moth loves to eat; and even the richest persons had difficulty protecting their clothes from the insects. Wealth was also often held in grain, as we see from the parable of the rich farmer who said, “I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods” (Luke 12:18). Brōsis (rust) literally means “an eating,” and is translated with that meaning everywhere in the New Testament but here (see Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 8:4, “eating”; 2 Cor. 9:10, “food”; and Heb. 12:16, “meal”). It seems best to take the same meaning here, in reference to grain that is eaten by rats, mice, worms, and insects. Almost any kind of wealth, of course, is subject to thieves, which is why many people buried their nonperishable valuables in the ground away from the house, often in a field (see Matt. 13:44). Break in is literally “dig through,” and could refer to digging through the mud walls of a house or digging up the dirt in a field. Nothing we own is completely safe from destruction or theft. And even if we keep our possessions perfectly secure during our entire lives, we are certainly separated from them at death. Many millionaires will be heavenly paupers, and many paupers will be heavenly millionaires. But when our time, energy, and possessions are used to serve others and to further the Lord’s work, they build up heavenly resources that are completely free from destruction or theft. There neither moth nor rust destroys, and … thieves do not break in or steal. Heavenly security is the only absolute security. Jesus goes on to point out that a person’s most cherished possessions and his deepest motives and desires are inseparable, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. They will either both be earthly or both be heavenly. It is impossible to have one on earth and the other in heaven (cf. James 4:4). As always, the heart must be right first. In fact, if the heart is right, everything else in life falls into its proper place. The person who is right with the Lord will be generous and happy in his giving to the Lord’s work. By the same token, a person who is covetous, self-indulgent, and stingy has good reason to question his relationship with the Lord. Jesus is not saying that if we put our treasure in the right place our heart will then be in the right place, but that the location of our treasure indicates where our heart already is. Spiritual problems are always heart problems. Sinful acts come from a sinful heart, just as righteous acts come from a righteous heart. When the exiles who came back to Jerusalem from Babylon began turning to God’s Word, a revival also began. “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people” and various leaders took turns reading “from the law of God” (Neh. 8:5–8). Through hearing God’s Word the people became convicted of their sin, began to praise God, and determined to begin obeying Him and to faithfully support the work of the Temple (chaps. 9–10). Revival that does not affect the use of money and possessions is a questionable revival. As the Tabernacle was being built, “everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments” (Ex. 35:21). As plans were being made to build the Temple, David himself gave generously to the work, and “the rulers of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king’s work, offered willingly.… Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly” (1 Chron. 29:2–6, 9). G. Campbell Morgan wrote:
You are to remember with the passion burning within you that you are not the child of to-day. You are not of the earth, you are more than dust; you are the child of tomorrow, you are of the eternities, you are the offspring of Deity. The measurements of your lives cannot be circumscribed by the point where blue sky kisses green earth. All the fact of your life cannot be encompassed in the one small sphere upon which you live. You belong to the infinite. If you make your fortune on the earth—poor, sorry, silly soul—you have made a fortune, and stored it in a place where you cannot hold it. Make your fortune, but store it where it will greet you in the dawning of the new morning. (The Gospel According to Matthew [New York: Revell, 1929], pp. 64–65)
When thousands of people, mostly Jews, were won to Christ during and soon after Pentecost, the Jerusalem church was flooded with many converts who had come from distant lands and who decided to stay on in the city. Many of them no doubt were poor, and many others probably left most of their wealth and possessions in their homelands. To meet the great financial burden suddenly placed on the church, local believers “began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need” (Acts 2:45). Many years later, during one of the many Roman persecutions, soldiers broke into a certain church to confiscate its presumed treasures. An elder is said to have pointed to a group of widows and orphans who were being fed and said, “There are the treasures of the church.” God’s principle for His people has always been, “Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov. 3:9–10). Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” (Luke 6:38). Paul assures us that “he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). That is God’s formula for earning dividends that are both guaranteed and permanent. At the end of His parable about the dishonest but shrewd steward, Jesus said, “I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). Our material possessions are “unrighteous” in the sense of not having any spiritual value in themselves. But if we invest them in the welfare of human souls, the people who are saved or otherwise blessed because of them will someday greet us in heaven with thanksgiving.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985–1989). Matthew (Vol. 1, pp. 409–413). Moody Press.
Naturally, if a person’s real treasure, his ultimate aim in all his striving, is something pertaining to this earth—the acquisition of money, fame, popularity, prestige, power—, then his heart, the very center of his life (Prov. 4:23), will be completely absorbed in that mundane object. All of his activities, including even the so-called religious, will be subservient to this one goal. On the other hand, if, out of sincere and humble gratitude to God, he has made God’s kingdom, that is, the joyful recognition of God’s sovereignty in his own life and in every sphere, his treasure, then there is also where his heart will be. Money, in that case, will be a help, not a hindrance. Something of this nature Jesus must have had in mind when he said, 21. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The “heart” cannot be in both of these places at the same time. It is an either-or proposition! See verse 24.
Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. 9, p. 346). Baker Book House.
The treasure and the heart (6:21) ‘For [gar] where [hopou] your treasure [ho thēsauros sou] is, there will your heart [hē kardia sou] be also.’ The conjunction gar joins 6:21 to 6:19–20. So does the adverb hopou, which occurs four times in verses 19–20. The noun thēsauros and the personal pronoun sou also provide connections; but the shift from the plurals of 6:19–20 (thēsaurous and hymin) to the singulars of 6:21 is noteworthy. But it is especially the closing phrase—hē kardia sou—that captures our attention. The whole verse is addressed to the individual; but whereas ‘your treasure’ denotes what the disciple has, ‘your heart’ denotes who he is. Moreover, with this latter phrase the paragraph reaches its climax; and whereas other terms in 6:21 have antecedents in 6:19–20, kardia appears here for the first time since 5:28, and for only the third (and last) time in the sermon (see also 5:8). For storing up treasures in heaven, the condition of the heart is crucial. Heaven is heaven because God dwells there; it is he who explains the durability and security of the heavenly treasure. Obedience to the commands of Matthew 6:19–20 depends on fidelity to that ‘great and first commandment,’ which is to love God with all one’s heart (kardia; 22:37–38). For such a person heaven’s greatest treasure is God himself (5:8); disciples long for heaven because Jesus, their ‘priceless treasure,’ is there (Phil. 1:21–23). Otherwise the promise of heavenly treasures can pose a graver danger than the lure of earthly ones. If, like the rich man of Luke 12, I am centered on myself and my future welfare, I can employ the command of Matthew 6:20 selfishly: ‘I desire to accumulate riches for myself [cf. 6:20, ‘for yourselves’]. Earthly riches are perishable, and heavenly riches are durable; so it is eminently sensible for me to invest in the latter. Who would not choose a stock that both pays a high rate of interest and is risk-free?’ The only sure antidote to preoccupation with things, whether earthly or heavenly, is a heart that loves God, and that longs above all else to obey him and to be fully united with him. Thus, 1 Timothy 6:17–19 exhorts the rich ‘not to fix their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but instead upon God [all’ epi Theō],’ by serving whom they will be ‘storing up for treasures for themselves [apothēsaurizontas heautois] as a good foundation’ for the life to come. This accords with the earlier conclusion that disciples ‘store up treasures’ by obeying Jesus’ teachings and doing his Father’s will. ‘Where your heart is, there will your treasure be also’: thus says the above paragraph. Love of God and therefore of neighbor is the chief motive for obeying Jesus’ commands in this sermon and elsewhere. But here in Matthew 6:21 Jesus puts the matter the other way around: ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ That is, the disciple discovers—perhaps to his surprise—that his fidelity to those commands causes his love for God and for his neighbor to increase.
Chamblin, J. K. (2010). Matthew: A Mentor Commentary (pp. 437–438). Mentor.
“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” —Thomas Jefferson (1781)
December jobs numbers: December’s employment numbers came in below the Dow Jones estimate of 73,000, with 50,000 jobs added — lower than November’s revised number of 56,000. The slower job growth was buoyed by a drop in the headline unemployment rate to 4.4%, which came in below the expected 4.5%. Furthermore, the overall unemployment rate dropped to 8.4%. Meanwhile, average hourly wages grew by 0.3%, meeting expectations, while annual earnings increased by 3.8%, which was 0.2% higher than forecast. Overall workforce participation came in at 62.4%. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, called the report “a mixed bag” while noting, “The overarching takeaway in today’s report is that there is more good news than bad in the first on-time jobs report in three months.”
Fraud federal task force: In a fiery press conference yesterday, Vice President JD Vance called out the news media’s coverage of ICE actions in Minneapolis, and he also announced a new interagency federal task force intended to root out fraud. The administration intends to use the task force to expand fraud investigations to other states, including Ohio and California. The task force comes on top of the 1,500 Justice Department subpoenas and 100 indictments already issued. Additionally, Vance announced that a new associate attorney general nominee will be named and given authority over fraud investigations nationwide. The nomination is expected in the “next few days.”
Senate advances war powers measure on Venezuela: The Senate on Thursday narrowly advanced a war powers resolution in an effort to block President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional approval. Trump complained, “Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America.” He also called the measure unconstitutional for impeding his authority as commander-in-chief. Five Republican senators sided with Democrats — Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young. Trump said they “should never be elected to office again.” Only Collins is up for reelection this year. Sen. John Barrosso observed that this was about Democrats attacking Trump, not advancing American interests: “It does not reassert Congress’s powers. It does not make America stronger. It makes America weaker and less safe.”
Russia spurns peace plan: Russia has now rejected the latest iteration of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Ukraine, calling certain provisions the formation of “a true axis of war.” Russia identified the core of the proposal as a multinational force deployed in Ukraine to aid in rebuilding that nation’s military. Russia’s announcement comes in response to the five-point security plan Trump’s peace envoys signed with European leaders on Tuesday. For Western observers, it seems clear that Russia will not agree to any plan that does not leave Ukraine more vulnerable than it was before the invasion in 2022. Naturally, Ukraine is insisting on security guarantees from Europe and the U.S. before agreeing to any peace plan.
Billionaires begin to exit California: California Democrats’ plan to impose a wealth tax on billionaires is creating a predictable result: rather than staying and having their wealth looted by the state government, at least six billionaire residents are planning to move out. Topping the growing list of billionaires fleeing the Golden State are Google co-founder Larry Page and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Six billionaires left before New Year’s Day to avoid a potential one-time 5% tax on all their assets exceeding $1 billion. Democrat lawmakers in the state have pushed this wealth tax, which residents will vote on in November. Silicon Valley investment firm co-founder Divesh Makan has been helping billionaires leave the state, and he estimates that as many as 20 additional billionaire families will move out. Given that California has roughly 200 billionaires, that’s no small number.
Minneapolis update: Investigations into the death of a protester who was impeding law enforcement personnel acting in an official capacity on Wednesday are ongoing. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension attempted to insert itself into the federal investigation on Thursday before announcing its inability to do so. The FBI, which is investigating the case, opted not to share information with state authorities, likely because the anti-American fraud in that state is so rampant that the current governor was forced to end his reelection campaign. The disgraced Governor Tim Walz said it was “very, very difficult” to believe the investigation could arrive at the truth without his state authorities having access. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she would like to know where Minnesota authorities were when paid protesters were harassing ICE in the line of duty. FBI Director Kash Patel announced an investigation into the funding of these paid protesters.
Major takedown of Dominican gang: Many arrests have been made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers of notorious Dominican gang members across New York and the United States, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Thursday. More than 50 members of the transnational criminal organization Trinitarios were charged with weapons trafficking, human smuggling, narcotics distribution, and armed robberies, and 60% of them have already been deported. Several of the gang members had been arrested for crimes multiple times but then released before shooting a Customs and Border Protection officer in July (the officer miraculously survived). The shooter’s accomplice was arrested eight times by the NYPD, but he was let go every time despite already having a deportation order. Noem stated, “These arrests and these removals represent a significant blow to the criminal network that has been terrorizing communities right here in New York City and throughout the United States.”
Navy’s oldest carrier, USS Nimitz, ends final deployment: One of the backbones of the U.S. Navy has completed its final deployment and returned home to U.S. Naval Base Kitsap in Washington State. The USS Nimitz was the first of 10 Nimitz-class supercarriers. Commissioned in 1975, the Nimitz participated in nearly every major U.S. operation and conflict over the next 50 years. In its most recent nine-month deployment, it launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Somalia. The Nimitz is currently undergoing maintenance before making the voyage to Norfolk base in Virginia, where defueling and formal inactivation will begin. Due to the complexity of removing its nuclear power, the Nimitz is unlikely to become a museum ship. Nimitz-class supercarriers are still the backbone of the U.S. carrier groups, although their replacements, the Gerald R. Ford-class, have entered service with the eponymous USS Gerald R. Ford.
House fails to override Trump’s first two vetoes: Last month, President Trump vetoed two bills, one of which was the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act and the other the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendment Act. Both bills had passed through Congress unanimously, but when it came to overriding Trump’s vetoes, the House was unable to secure the two-thirds majority required. Trump reasoned that, in the case of the first bill, it was a water pipeline project that had been green-lighted during the Kennedy administration with the understanding that it would be fully funded by the local community, not U.S. taxpayers. In the second bill, Trump argued that a region of the Florida Everglades occupied by the Miccosukee Tribe should not receive federal funding to fix problems in the area. The failure to override Trump’s vetoes indicates the strength of his sway among Republicans.
Headlines
Trump announces cancellation of “second wave of attacks” on Venezuela (Washington Examiner)
U.S. seizes another sanctioned oil tanker in Caribbean (Just the News)
U.S. trade deficit shrinks to $29.4 billion, lowest since 2009 (Just the News)
Crane removes Hilton sign from Minnesota hotel that denied service to DHS, ICE agents (Fox News)
Humor: Eight perfect new jobs for Tim Walz (Babylon Bee)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.
The official Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) has not been updated since 1980, when it was first introduced. For years and years, breads and starches were overemphasized while healthy fats like those found in butter or olive oil were demonized. Not anymore.
Thanks to the work of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, the food pyramid has been flipped on its head. “As Secretary of Health and Human Services,” Kennedy said in a press conference this week, “my message is clear: eat real food. Nothing matters more for healthcare outcomes, economic outcomes, military readiness, and physical stability.”
The emphasis of the new DGA is on whole foods, prioritizing nutrient-dense foods such as poultry, red meat, fish, eggs, legumes, lentils, nuts, and more. The higher the quality of whole food, the better the nutrient intake and health outcomes.
The guidance also reflects Kennedy’s stance on sugars and ultra-processed foods, which he calls poison — and he’s right. While the former card-carrying Democrat has plenty of questionable if not downright insane opinions, his viewpoint regarding ultra-processed, prepackaged foods — namely that they are disguised as convenience but are actually empty calories that do not fuel your body and contribute to the obesity crisis — is spot-on.
Why was the 1980s food pyramid so drastically wrong? Well, the makers of the original food pyramid were coerced by food lobbyists, particularly those in the sugar lobby, to demonize fats rather than one of the main culprits: sugar itself.
Kennedy addressed this travesty as well: “The hard truth,” he noted, “is that our government has been lying to us to protect corporate profit-taking.” He promised that “the lies stop” today.
This is exactly what MAHA supporters have been hoping for. How do we make America healthy again? By eliminating added sugars, seed oils, and food dyes, and returning to real, whole foods. In the public sector, the new DGA will directly affect schools, the military, hospitals, and federal assistance programs.
Some surprising entities are applauding the new guidelines. The American Medical Association, which historically has been critical of Kennedy and the MAHA movement, released a statement saying that it “applauds the Administration’s new Dietary Guidelines for spotlighting the highly processed foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, and excess sodium that fuel heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other chronic illnesses.” The AMA continued, “The Guidelines affirm that food is medicine and offer clear direction patients and physicians can use to improve health.”
Frankly, this move should (emphasis on should) generate bipartisan agreement. Who wouldn’t want to replace the bogus old food pyramid with one that actually reflects science and common sense? I’ll tell you who doesn’t: the leftists who inhabit the social media platform Bluesky. If they’re not griping about the new DGA’s emphasis on protein and red meat, they’re caterwauling about how it’s racist because Americans didn’t adopt former First Lady Michelle Obama’s version of a balanced diet.
Because we live in a clown world, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them go on a processed food bender in protest. As if they needed more health problems besides their mental health issues.
Nate Jackson: Temporary ObamaCare Subsidies Forever — Good news — at least the House-passed legislation extending enhanced subsidies through 2028 isn’t yet the law of the land.
Douglas Andrews: A Predictable Shooting in Portland — Just a day after a leftist agitator was shot in Minneapolis for trying to run over federal agents, a similar shooting happened in Portland.
Thomas Gallatin: Housing Policy, Trump vs. Mamdani Style — Both men look to use the heavy hand of government to “fix” America’s housing affordability problem, but they’re coming at it from very different sides.
Brian Mark Weber: Is a Wealth Tax Coming to California? — The failure of politicians to keep the books in order has left the Golden State desperate to make up for massive revenue losses.
Ron Helle: Contour Lines — I have a theorem I apply to climbing mountains: “For every downhill there is an equal to, or greater than, uphill ahead.” Our spiritual journey is much like that.
Why Do American Protesters Support Maduro? — Ami Horowitz speaks with demonstrators outside the New York detention center where Maduro is being held to find out what they believe about communism’s impact on Venezuela.
Maduro and the Monroe Doctrine — Breaking down the geopolitics, the precedent, and the meme culture explosion that has followed the U.S. operation to extract illegitimate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“Outrage after I.C.E. officer kills U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.” —CNN headline
The BIG Lie
“Blood is clearly on the hands of those individuals within the administration who have been pushing an extreme policy that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement.” —House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
Emotional Manipulation
“Renee Good wasn’t a threat — she was a mom with stuffed animals in her glove box.” —Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Can’t Fix Stupid
“I’m so sorry if I offended [Republicans’] Disney princess ears. … I think the most inflammatory action is killing somebody.” —Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
Insurrection Threat?
“When things looked really bleak, it was Minnesota’s 1st that held that line for the nation on July 3rd, 1863. And I think now we may be in that moment.” —Minnesota Gov. Tim “Stolen Valor” Walz
Village Idiots
“[Donald Trump] isn’t just killing people overseas. An ICE agent … shot and killed an unarmed 37-year-old woman during an ICE operation in Minneapolis. … Get the f**k out of Minneapolis! Get the f**k out of all of these cities!” —”comedian” Jimmy Kimmel
“The ‘prosecute the former regime at every level’ candidate has my vote in 2028.” —”Jeopardy!“ host Ken Jennings
Setting the Record Straight
“The gaslighting is off the charts and I’m having none of it. This [ICE agent] was doing his job. [Renee Good] tried to stop him from doing his job. When he approached her car, she tried to hit him. A tragedy? Absolutely. But a tragedy that falls on this woman and all of the radicals who teach people that immigration is the one type of law that rioters are allowed to interfere with.” —Vice President JD Vance
“Everybody who has been repeating the lie that this is some innocent woman who was out for a drive in Minneapolis when a law enforcement shot at her — you should be ashamed of yourselves.” —JD Vance
“You can accept that this woman’s death is a tragedy while acknowledging it’s a tragedy of her own making. Don’t illegally interfere in federal law enforcement operations and try to run over our officers with your car. It’s really that simple.” —JD Vance
Esprit de Corps
“I want every ICE officer to know that their president, vice president, and the entire administration stands behind them.” —JD Vance
Dog and Pony Show
“I used to ask if these [ICE] protestors had jobs. Now it’s clear: this is their job.” —political commentator Link Lauren
Weird Flex
“Recently, Gavin Newsom boasted, ‘California isn’t just keeping pace with the world — we’re setting the pace.’ Recent data shows he is right. There is a record number of U-Hauls fleeing the state — more than any other state.” —law professor Jonathan Turley
How Much?
“The General Accounting Office believes that there is somewhere between three and six hundred billion of annual fraud — roughly 10% of government spending that disappears due to fraud.” —Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
Sad, but True
“Fraud usually makes headlines only when the amount exceeds the lottery.” —Cal Thomas
Annals of Collectivism
“Venezuelans had their chance at self-government and blew it, electing the communist Hugo Chávez by acclamation four separate times, and Nicolás Maduro once (contested). Now, they can’t keep the lights on and the entire Venezuelan economy runs on shipping cocaine from Colombia to Mexico.” —Ann Coulter
And Last…
“As Secretary of Health and Human Services, my message is clear: EAT REAL FOOD.” —Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ON THIS DAY in 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, which became one of the most influential works advocating for American independence. “The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind,” he wrote. “The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.”
The protests in Iran now in their 13th day may have come to a tipping point. Federal immigration officers shot and wounded 2 people in a vehicle in Portland Oregon on Thursday afternoon. One year ago, catastrophic fires raged through Los Angeles – burning 57,000 acres and killing 31 people. This week marks 70-years since a defining moment in modern missions: the death of 5 young missionaries in Ecuador. Zootopia 2 is breaking records and making history in the Box office. Stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze is coming to theaters in his new film ‘The Breadwinner’.
During the 1992 Presidential Debate, independent candidate Ross Perot famously warned that “there will be a giant sucking sound going south” due to the cheaper Mexican labor and lower regulatory demands on businesses. That sound is being heard again, but this time it is coming from California, which is virtually chasing taxpayers and companies out of the state with a massive state deficit, rising taxes, crippling regulations, and wasteful programs.
Recently, Gavin Newsom boasted, “California isn’t just keeping pace with the world — we’re setting the pace.” Recent data shows he is right. There is a record number of U-Hauls fleeing the state — more than any other state. Indeed, the only thing harder to find than a wealthy taxpayer in California appears to be a U-Haul.
According to U-Haul’s data, the state is again leading blue states in the exodus. The Washington Post noted this week that “California came in last. Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and New Jersey rounded out the bottom five. Of the bottom 10, seven voted blue in the last election.” Conversely, “nine of the top 10 growth states voted red in the last presidential election,” with Texas again leading the growth states.
The Post wrote that the conclusions are inescapable: “People want to live in pro-growth, low-tax states, while the biggest losers tend to be places with big governments and high taxes.”
What is most striking is how Democratic politicians and many voters are simply defying the data and logic. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents part of Silicon Valley, recently mocked billionaires moving to escape a planned wealth tax. Some of us have criticized the tax as perfectly moronic for a state with the highest tax burden, soaring deficit, and shrinking tax base.
The “2026 Billionaires Tax Act” would impose a one-time 5% tax on individual wealth exceeding $1 billion. While technically using 2026 wealth figures, it would apply to billionaires who resided in California in 2025. So you cannot hope to flee… at least with your wealth intact. It is a penalty for those who stay too long hoping that rational minds would prevail in California.
Yet, Rep. Khanna mocked his own constituents planning to flee the state, quoting FDR in saying ‘I will miss them very much.”
Indeed, you will. Democrats continue to act as if wealthy citizens are a type of captive audience. They are expected to be voluntary prey in a canned hunt for wealthy taxpayers. Many have chosen to take their money and businesses elsewhere.
As I discuss in my forthcoming book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, there is a common myth that the top five percent of this country do not “pay their fair share.” However, putting that debate aside, the question is whether it will produce more revenue than it costs the state in the long run. As these politicians campaign on clipping the “fat cats” who are not paying their fair share, many are likely to follow the exodus to lower tax states with greater fiscal discipline.
From New York to California, Democrats are pitching new programs from free buses to state-run stores to reparations as their tax bases contract. San Francisco recently approved the reparations plan that could give up to $5 million to qualified residents. The city faces a billion-dollar deficit, yet it continues to assume greater debt obligations.
Once again, denying basic economics will only lead to a rude awakening when these leaders, to quote Margaret Thatcher, “run out of other people’s money.”
As Todd “Bubba” Horwitz tells Daniela Cambone, once prices clear higher ground, momentum accelerates. Debt compounds, currencies don’t. In that math, $6K isn’t extreme—and $7K or $8K isn’t fantasy. The signal is confirmed by silver. The gold-silver ratio has collapsed from triple digits to near 60, a classic late-cycle tell. Industrial demand—especially batteries—tightens supply as capital flees paper promises. Precious metals aren’t spiking. They’re repricing reality. Markets adjust faster than policymakers admit, and voters expect.
About ITM Trading: ITM Trading has been a trusted leader in precious metals for over 28 years, helping clients protect and grow their wealth with custom gold and silver strategies designed for economic downturns and currency resets.
Investigative reporter Liz Collin attributes protests in Minneapolis to a ‘network’ of people aiming to get in the way of federal law enforcement on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’ #fox #media #breakingnews #us #usa #new #news #breaking #foxnews #crime #crimenews #crimestory #criminal #police #politics #political #politicalnews #government #minneapolis #minnesota #protests #lawenforcement #federal #ju
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