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
Much corrupt talk has come out of my mouth; that foolish talking and crude joking, which are out of place, Ephesians 5:4(ESV) and little of that which is good and to the use of building up, and which might give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29(ESV)
If people will give account for every careless word they speak, and if by my words I will be justified and by my words I will be condemned, Matthew 12:36-37(ESV) woe is me! For I am lost; for I am of unclean lips and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Isaiah 6:5(ESV)
What would become of me, if God should make my own tongue turn against me? Psalm 64:8(ESV)
Our spiritual slothfulness and decay.
I have been slothful in zeal for religion and not fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11(ESV)
The things which remain are about to die, and my works have not been found complete in the sight of God. Revelation 3:2(ESV)
I have observed the winds, and therefore have not sown; have regarded the clouds, and therefore have not reaped; Ecclesiastes 11:4(ESV) and with the sluggard have frightened myself with the fancy of a lion in the road, a lion in the streets, and have turned on my bed as a door on its hinges, Proverbs 26:13-14(ESV) still crying, “A little sleep, a little slumber.” Proverbs 6:10(ESV)
Matthew 27:65-66 In this week’s lessons we note the futility of those who tried to keep shut the tomb that was soon going to be empty, and of the need for everyone to submit to the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Theme
A Violent Earthquake
Well if the Jewish leaders did not fear the disciples, what did they fear then? I am sure they would not have voiced this openly, but in my judgment what they actually feared was the resurrection. After all, they were not imperceptive, and they had been observing Jesus for the better part of three years. They had seen Him heal the sick, give sight to the blind, cleanse the lepers, restore strength to the impotent. And then, greatest wonder of all, only a few days before His arrest He had actually raised Lazarus of Bethany from the grave. There was no use denying the miracles. They had tried to deny them at first, but there were too many miracles and too many witnesses to do this convincingly. Toward the end they had simply acknowledged the miracles but attributed them to the devil. This man—this miracle worker—claimed that three days after He had been crucified He would be raised from death by God. Is it not the case that this is what they really feared? Were they not afraid that He who had raised Lazarus would Himself conquer death and shatter their little ecclesiastical world and their plans?
So they did their best. First, they sealed the large stone that had been rolled over the mouth of the tomb with their seal: the seal of the Sanhedrin. Oh, what authority was there! Who would dare to break that seal, thus setting Jesus against the accumulated political and spiritual authority of their state? Second, they posted guards, guards from the same company that had been used to arrest Jesus in the garden. These were their Jewish officers. Surely they could be trusted.
So the guard was set, and the hours and days rolled by. Friday! Friday night! Saturday! Saturday night! All seemed to be well. . .
Suddenly “there was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men” (Matt. 28:2-4). Christ was not there! He was risen! The tomb was empty! The seal was broken! The guards were scattered! The rule of the Pharisees and priests was broken, and Christianity began its triumphant expansion into God’s world! “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” Secure against God? Secure against the life-shattering power of the Resurrection?
A few years after this incident a distinguished young rabbi rose to prominence. He had studied under Gamaliel and had achieved stature among the Pharisees, the very sect that had been instrumental in securing the death of the hated Nazarene. Christianity had not died out after Jesus’ crucifixion, and this young rabbi—his name was Saul of Tarsus—determined to stamp it out forcibly. He rooted out the Christians of Jerusalem, and when he found them he saw that they were arrested and executed. Not satisfied with his work in Jerusalem, he went to the high priest to secure letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any there who were Christians he might arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem for trial.
Saul was in the company of those who had tried to secure the tomb of Jesus years before, for he was trying to save two things from that same power and influence. First, he was trying to save Judaism from the explosive vitality of the Nazarene’s new sect. He regarded Christianity as a heresy and Jesus as a blasphemer and child of Satan. By arresting Christians he hoped to secure his own religion.
Study Questions
What point is made about the symbolic meaning of the seal that was used?
What was one thing Saul was trying to secure through his persecution of Christians? Explain.
Application
Reflection: What do people try to secure in their rejection of Christ?
For Further Study: To look deeper into how religion can actually keep you from truly knowing God, download for free and listen to James Boice’s message from the book of Amos, “How God Views Religion.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man’s face and changes its hard appearance.
Ecclesiastes 8:1
There is a marvelous, fourfold description of what happens to one who discovers the true wisdom of righteousness as a gift from God, one who walks with God in the fear of God.
First, it will make that person a unique human being. Who is like the wise man? One of the follies of life is to try to imitate somebody else. The media constantly bombards us with subtle invitations to look like, dress, or talk like some popular idol. If you succeed in that, of course, you will be nothing but a cheap imitation of another person. The glory of the good news is that when you become a new creature in Jesus Christ, you will be unique. You will become more and more like Christ, but unlike everyone else in personality. You will not be a copy, a cheap imitation, but an original from the Spirit of God.
Secondly, the Searcher says, godly wisdom will give you a secret knowledge: Who knows the explanation of things? The implication of that question is that the wise person knows. This is what Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 2: The spiritual man makes judgments about all things (1 Corinthians 2:15a). Spiritual people are in a position to pass moral judgment on the value of everything, not because they are so smart, but because the God who teaches them is wise.
Thirdly, such a person will experience a visible joy: Wisdom brightens a man’s face. Grace—not grease—is what makes the face shine. Manufacturers put grease in cosmetics to make the face shine artificially, but it is grace that does it from within. Grace and the joy that results from it visibly expressed make a face shine.
Finally, it changes the inner disposition of a person: [Wisdom] changes its hard appearance. Have you ever watched somebody whose life was under the impact of the Spirit of God soften, mellow, and grow easier to live with? That is the work of the Spirit of God.
All of us have sung the hymns of John Newton. One in particular is a favorite of many: Amazing grace! How sweet the sound—that saved a wretch like me! That is John Newton’s story. He was raised by a godly mother who prayed for him all his life. As soon as he came of age, he joined the slave trade, running slaves from Africa to England. He fell into wild, riotous living, involving himself in drunken brawls. He ended up at last, as he himself confesses, a slave of slaves, actually serving some of the escaped slaves on the African coast, wretched, miserable, and hardly even alive. Then he found voyage on a ship back to England. In the midst of a terrible storm in the Atlantic, when he feared for his life, he was converted; he remembered his mother’s prayers, and he came to Christ. He became one of the great Christians of England, author of many hymns that set forth the joy, the radiance, the gladness of his life as he found it in Jesus Christ.
Here the Searcher has clearly declared what he emphasizes throughout the whole book of Ecclesiastes: that it is the man or woman who finds the living God who discovers the answer to the riddles of life.
Father, thank You that when You came into my life, You granted me wisdom from above. Teach me to listen and live by the wisdom You give through Your Word.
If you’ve ever had a difficult boss, coach, parent, or other superior figure, you likely know what it means to desire their favor. In some cases it seems futile to even try, especially if they tend to find fault with anything and everything you do. In the best cases they can be pleased, if you work hard. Regardless, it’s challenging to live under such circumstances because you rarely feel they are pleased and therefore, you seldom feel satisfied. It’s comforting, then, to read Psalm 90 and realize that the Superior of superiors, the everlasting God, is able and willing to shine His favor upon His people.
Our Dwelling Place
If anyone could speak of God as “our dwelling place” (Ps. 90:1) it would be the author of this Psalm, Moses, the prophet and friend of God who led Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness. During this time in redemptive history, before Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the Lord dwelt among His people by way of the tabernacle. Earlier generations could also testify that He had been their dwelling place. The Lord had met with Adam in the garden (Gen. 2:15-17) and Abraham at his tent (Gen. 18:1-15). From generation to generation He had been faithful to His promise to dwell with His people.
It is significant that Moses, who wrote the Pentateuch, also wrote Psalm 90. Just as he had written the creation account in Genesis 1-2, he wrote in this psalm, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps. 90:2). It is no surprise, then, that this psalm tells the big story of the Bible—creation, the fall, redemption, and consummation.
The apostle John tells us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The reason Jesus came and tabernacled among us was to reveal God’s glory, “full of grace and truth” (v. 14). “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). He came to accomplish the redemption of God’s people. Yet we still wait for the consummation of His kingdom when we will dwell with God in the new Jerusalem and praise Him forever. In the meantime, we can take great comfort in the truth that no matter our circumstances, the Lord will be our dwelling place.
Our Days
The mood of Psalm 90 changes between verses 1-2 and 3-17. Because of the fall death will come to us all—“You return man to dust” (Ps. 90:3). It’s not just death that threatens humankind though. God’s wrath also awaits the wicked, “by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence” (vv. 7-8). Our sins stain our souls and sentence us to separation from God, “Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?” (v. 11).
But in the midst of misery Moses sounds a note of mercy. There is a solution to God’s wrath. Those who turn to God for salvation will be saved. Moses begins by praying, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). One of the ways we gain a heart of wisdom is by trusting in the One who “became to us wisdom from God” (1 Cor. 1:30). Next, Moses asks the Lord to “have pity on [His] servants” (Ps. 90:13). This is most fully displayed through Christ’s death on the cross that accomplished the redemption of God’s people. Then Moses asks the Lord to “satisfy” them with His “steadfast love” so that they can “rejoice and be glad” (v. 14). For all those who are united to Christ by faith, His joy becomes our joy. Moses also prays that the Lord will help them see their suffering as a gift from Him (v. 15). Those who follow in the footsteps of their Lord Jesus Christ, the suffering servant, will also suffer. Furthermore, Moses asks the Lord to reveal His “work” and “glorious power” to His people (v. 16). This, of course, would be most clearly demonstrated through Christ’s death and resurrection. Finally, Moses prays for “the favor of the Lord” to rest upon His people and asks Him to “establish the work of [their] hands” (v. 17). For those who are in Christ God’s favor rests upon us and our “labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
God’s wrath was poured out upon His only Son, so that He can be our dwelling place. Because of Jesus our days are not futile and the works of our hands are not meaningless. God has chosen us in Christ and prepared works beforehand for us to do for His glory (Eph. 2:10). Therefore, let us fervently pray for the Lord to establish the work of our hands and sustain our days, so that we might declare His words and works to the next generation.
*****
Dear believer, take comfort today in the truth that the everlasting God is your dwelling place and His favor is upon you. He will give you wisdom. He will be merciful to you. He will satisfy you with His steadfast love. He will make you glad. He will show you His glorious power. And He will establish the work of your hands.
Walk into any hospital waiting room and you’ll notice that administrators have tried to address a challenging problem: how to assist people who are waiting under duress. Someone in a waiting room may be preparing to receive bad news. To distract them, magazines are laid out, calming music is played, and televisions are tuned to programs that entertain. It is never easy to wait.When Paul wrote to Titus, he understood that Christians were waiting. Jesus had ascended to heaven and promised to return, but it would not happen right away. Some Christians had already died without seeing Christ return. It was slowly becoming clear that this might take a while. Christians would have to wait.Paul doesn’t attempt to distract Christians in God’s waiting room, rather he reminds them that they have been transformed by the grace of God (v. 11). That transformation continues as they “say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions” (v. 12). Living the way Christ commanded is one of the central ways Christians-who-wait sustain their hope in Christ’s return (v. 13). Paul reminds them that Jesus Christ gave Himself to redeem us from wickedness. He died to purify us, so that we could be His own people, ready to do good (v. 14). He gives additional guidance for waiting behavior in chapter 3: “to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone” (vv. 1–2).Distraction may work in a hospital waiting room, but it is not fitting for Christians who wait for Christ to return. We are called to live lives that sustain our hope and enable us to do good, while we look forward to the glorious return of Christ.
Go Deeper Are you distracting yourself while you wait for Jesus to return? Sometimes distractions can be harmful to those who hope in Christ. Take a moment to consider how you can wait differently. Extended Reading:Titus
Pray with Us Merciful Lord, as we wait for Your coming, we confess we are often distracted by the troubles and worries of this world. Thank You for Your guidance on how to wait well in Paul’s letter to Titus.
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (4:12–16)
In verse 12 John makes the simple point that if no one has seen God the Father at any time (cf. John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16), and Jesus is no longer visibly present to manifest Him, people will not see God’s love unless believers love one another. If they love one another, God will be on display, testifying that He abides in [them], and His love is perfected in [them] (cf. John 13:34–35; 1 John 3:24). The unseen God thus reveals Himself through the visible love of believers; the love that originated in God and was manifested in His Son is now demonstrated in His people. In this section the apostle John also sets forth a key sequence of evidences to remind readers once again that they can know they are saved. Assurance begins with the work of the Holy Spirit (2:20, 27; Rom. 8:9, 14–16; 1 Cor. 6:19–20; Eph. 1:13–14). Bruce Milne summarizes it for believers this way:
The heart of Christian experience of the Holy Spirit lies in his bringing us into a living relationship to Jesus Christ so that we share in his redemption and all its blessings. All Christian experience can be focused in this one gift of God to us through his Spirit, our union with Christ. (Know the Truth [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1982], 182)
Therefore John assures his believing readers they can know that [they] abide in God and He in [them], because He has given [them] of His Spirit. Having already focused on the Father and the Son within his discussion on perfect love, John now emphasizes the role of the Spirit. By noting the work of each member of the Trinity, the apostle underscores the Trinitarian origins of perfect love. Such love, which is accomplished through the work of each member of the Trinity and subsequently manifested in the lives of believers, finds its source in the triune God, who from eternity past enjoyed perfect fellowship as Father, Son, and Spirit. As those who abide in God, believers will reflect His love, because God abides in them and His Spirit is at work in their hearts. Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to the wind (John 3:8) and said people can see only the Spirit’s effects; there are no visible, physical signs that guarantee that someone is filled with the Spirit. But the reality of their faith enables believers to know they have the indwelling Spirit, as John reminds his readers: We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. Belief in the gospel (the doctrinal test) provides evidence of the Spirit’s ministry and presence (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). Because sinners are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1, 5), they cannot come to God on their own (cf. Matt. 12:35; John 1:12–13). Saving faith is possible only because God grants it (Eph. 2:8). In John’s case, his own experience of seeing and being with Jesus verified his faith (1 John 1:1–3). He bore witness that the Father has sent the Son to be Savior of the world, but he would not have believed had the Father not chosen him (John 6:44; 15:16, 19) and the Spirit opened his eyes to the truth. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, knows that God abides in him, and he in God. The true believer has discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit, and has come to know and [has] believed the love which God has for us. Such persons understand the eternal love of God, who is love, for all believers. They can rest confidently in the assurance that the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. They will further demonstrate the genuineness of their salvation by loving the Father and the Son, loving righteousness and fellow believers rather than the world’s system, and even loving their enemies. In summary, they will increasingly love the way God loves (cf. Matt. 5:48; 22:37–40; 2 Cor. 3:18).
MacArthur, J. (2007). 1, 2, 3 John (pp. 168–170). Moody Publishers.
Love and Sound Doctrine (vv. 13–16)
In the last verse of the preceding section, John has concluded that if we love one another, two things may be said to follow: first, that God abides in us, and second, that God’s love is perfected in us. These two conclusions give the outline for the next two sections of this chapter. In the first section (vv. 13–16) God’s indwelling of the Christian is discussed in greater detail; in the second (vv. 17–21) the perfection of love is analyzed. That the indwelling of the Christian by God is the theme of the first section is evident from the threefold repetition of the idea: once in verse 13 (“we live in him and he in us”), once in verse 15 (“God lives in him and he in God”), and once in verse 16 (“whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him”). It is not easy to give a simple outline to this section of the chapter, however, as it was, for instance, for verses 7–12 on the basis of the threefold repetition of the phrase “love one another.” Still, the major ideas are obvious. First, we know that we dwell in God and God in us because of the Spirit, whom he has given to us (v. 13). Then, second, we know that he has given us the Spirit because we have come to believe in Christ and love the brethren (vv. 14–16).
The Gift of God’s Spirit
John’s first point is that believers know that they dwell in God and God in them because of the Holy Spirit whom God has given to them. By this John emphasizes that God is always first in spiritual things and that apart from his gracious activity by the Holy Spirit to open blind eyes to perceive the truth and move rebellious wills to turn from sin to the Savior, no one would believe in Christ or love the brethren. In the next few verses John is going to talk of belief in Christ and love of the brethren, but we must not think, as some commentators have, that these are conditions by which we are enabled to dwell in God or remain in him. To believe in Christ and to love the brethren are not conditions by which we may dwell in God but rather are evidences of the fact that God has already taken possession of our lives to make this possible.
The Holy Spirit’s Gifts
This leads directly to John’s next point, for, having said that it is always God who is first in spiritual things, the question with which he next wants to deal is this: Is God thus at work spiritually in me? In answer to this question he therefore now argues that if God is at work, the evidences for it will be seen in a combination of love and sound doctrine. In other words, we may know that we have the Spirit because we have come to confess Christ and dwell in love. The confession of Christ is mentioned first because it is at the point of confession that the Christian life may properly be said to begin. “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God” (vv. 14–15). Once again, as in numerous spots throughout the letter, John phrases his confession of Christ in words that would be especially challenging to those faced with the Gnostic heresies. He emphasizes that God the Father sent the eternal Son to be the Savior and that the historical Jesus is that eternal Son. This should not obscure the fact that there are additional theological riches in the verses, however. For one thing, there is the doctrine of a lost world that needs a Savior. This “world,” as was pointed out in the earlier discussion of 2:15–17, means the world of men as it is in rebellion against God. A second doctrine is the full deity of Jesus Christ. A third is the focal point of his mission, which was to be the “Savior of the world.” It was for this that God “sent” him, says John. A fourth is the matter of God’s own motivation in the work of salvation, which is “the love God has for us” (v. 16). The second evidence of the Spirit’s activity is love for God and one another, for John concludes by saying, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” In other words, the love to which Christians were exhorted in verses 7–12 is now said not only to be a most solemn duty but also to be a striking evidence of the Spirit’s activity. Here certainly, in a combination of the ideas of the internal work of the Holy Spirit, belief in Christ as the Son of God and Savior, and the supreme point of Christian ethics which is a two-pronged love both for God and man, is a high point of the epistle. John is dealing with the subject of assurance (as he has been throughout) and has expressed it under several aspects. There is a subjective side, but it is without those unreliable, so-called spiritual experiences on which so many depend: tongues, miracles, feelings, and so forth. There is also an objective side, but this is not without those tender expressions of love that temper mere orthodoxy and validate it. Dodd writes of these verses:
This closely knit statement therefore places the reality of the Christian experience of God beyond question, guarding against the dangers of subjectivism on the one hand, and of mere traditionalism on the other; placing equal and co-ordinate stress on love to God, which is the heart of religion, and love to man, which is the foundation of morality, without allowing religion to sink to the level of mere moralism, or morality to be dissolved in mysticism. The passage is the high-water mark of the thought of the epistle.
Boice, J. M. (2004). The Epistles of John: an expositional commentary (pp. 117–119). Baker Books.
The “normal” story which almost all modern Christianity tells about the soul comes into sharp focus at funerals. We assume, along with most of Western culture, that the point of Christianity is “to go to heaven when you die.” But that is not the story which the Bible itself, both Old and New Testaments, is actually telling.
Rather, the great story the Bible tells, from Genesis to Revelation, is about God’s purpose and promise to come and live with us. To make his home with us, as Jesus said on the night he was betrayed (John 14:23). In Revelation’s “new Jerusalem,” the redeemed will see the face of God (Rev. 22:4), not because they have gone to dwell with God but because he has come to make his home with them (Rev. 21:3).
God’s intention, from start to finish, is to bring the life of heaven, indeed the sovereign rule of heaven, to birth as a new reality on earth. For the early Christians as a whole the point was not whether you could find your way up to be with God. The point was God’s homecoming: his coming to be with his people and his world in the person of Jesus, and his coming to live within his people and his world in the power of the Holy Spirit.
In fact — this point brings gasps of astonishment when I say it in lectures — the New Testament never uses the word “heaven” to talk about the destination of God’s people after their death. This can be illustrated sharply by thinking for a moment of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Salvation in Paul’s Letter to the Romans
In Romans, Paul’s understanding of being saved — both the ultimate end in view and the means of getting there — is quite different from what most Christians have imagined. Yes, “salvation” is the main theme of the letter, not least its climax in Romans 8, where Paul celebrates the salvation through which God’s people will obtain their inheritance.
But this inheritance is not heaven. It is the whole redeemed creation.
When people ignore this, as many have done over the years, the vital passage about the rescue and renewal of creation (Rom. 8:18–30) becomes obscure and puzzling. But if we take seriously Paul’s notion of creation reborn it all makes excellent sense. And the glorification of which Paul speaks in that chapter — meaning that humans will share the glory of God, as in Romans 5:2 — is not a lavish description of heaven. It has to do with the saturation of human life with the presence and power of God, enabling humans to play their proper glorious role of wise stewardship within God’s created order.
We see exactly the same sequence of thought, and the same result, in the dramatic song of praise in Revelation 5:9–10. Thus the popular view, that the letter to the Romans displays the going-to-heaven story, is not in the text. It has to be read into the text from a quite different worldview. Ironically, this has often happened when the book is being expounded by people who claim to believe in “the authority of the Bible.” But if we really mean what we say about biblical authority it is incumbent on us, both with Romans and with the whole Bible, to ponder the stark mismatch between our easygoing (and probably Platonic) assumptions and the text itself. In one sense, my argument is simply an appeal to let the Bible be the Bible.
What the Early Christians Believed
It appears that the early Christians were not particularly concerned with “going to be with God” as a new reality after their death. They were much more interested in the fact that, in Jesus, and in the Spirit, the God of creation and covenant had already come to make his home with them — and, through them, within his world; and that in his own resurrection Jesus had led the way into God’s long-promised new creation. They believed that Jesus would return to complete the work he had so dramatically and effectively begun.
That is of course one particular sharply focused point of the whole theme of my book, God’s Homecoming: that the incarnate Lord will come at last to complete his work of bringing all things into subjection under him. In particular, the early Christians believed that God’s Holy Spirit, having already dwelt within them in the present life, would sustain them in the closer presence of Jesus and then, in the end, raise them to new bodily life.
The Forgotten Story
Speaking of God making his home with his people brings us back to where we began. My argument is not simply (as in Surprised by Hope) that popular beliefs about the soul going to heaven are unbiblical and ought to be replaced with a more robust view of creation and new creation, with humans being bodily raised to share in the new creation.
The point of this new book, God’s Homecoming, is to suggest that, in addition, the whole idea of an immortal human soul making its way up to God is a radical distortion of biblical teaching. The Bible speaks with one voice of God coming to live with humans. Of God coming to be at home with us humans.
This story has largely been forgotten. But until we get our minds around it, and bring our teaching, preaching, sacramental and liturgical life, pastoral practice, and, not least, our personal prayer into line with this remarkable narrative and promise, we will not only be distorting the Bible’s message. We will be robbing ourselves of the central reality that Jesus and his first followers were celebrating.
For an expanded and more detailed treatment of this topic (based on this brief article), please listen to the Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Lent episode of A Word Fitly Spoken.
What are Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Lent? Are they biblical? Should Christians participate in them?
If you don’t live in Louisiana or a heavily Catholic area, maybe you’re not very familiar with these observances. Let’s take a look at each of them:
What is…
Lent– Lent is a forty day period (not counting Sundays) leading up to Easter. It is observed by Catholics and some Protestants. Historically, it is supposed to be a period of repentance, penance, fasting, and self-denial. The aspect of Lent that people tend to be most familiar with is the idea of giving something up (self-denial/penance) for Lent such as watching TV, chocolate, smoking, or eating meat.
Ash Wednesday– Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Ashes are applied to the forehead in the shape of a cross to indicate repentance and that the recipient will begin the Lenten fast. Ash Wednesday is primarily observed by Catholics and some Protestants.
Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)– Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday. It has its roots in Shrove Tuesday, which was originally a day of feasting on all of the foods that were forbidden during Lent so these foods would not spoil or go to waste since they could not be eaten again until after Easter. Through the years, this day of feasting has morphed into drunken revelry – sort of a “last hoorah” for getting all the sin out of your system before you have to start “being good” for Lent. In Louisiana (and a few other places), it is much more a cultural holiday than a religious observance. People from various religions as well as non-religious people participate in Mardi Gras. It is celebrated with numerous parades, balls, and other festivities. The colors of Mardi Gras are purple (representing justice), green (representing faith), and gold (representing power).
Lent– Yes and no. Mostly no. The fundamental components of Lent – repentance, fasting, and the pursuit of holiness – are biblical. Repentance and holy living should be practiced by all Christians every day, and biblical fasting as the Holy Spirit convicts the individual Believer.
However, Lent is not mentioned or even hinted at in the Bible, and any Catholic observance (of Lent or anything else) is fundamentally unbiblical because the Catholic religion itself is unbiblical. It is also unbiblical for a church to require that its members observe a man-made religious ritual or to imply or teach that participating in this ritual earns favor with God or absolves or makes up for sin. Furthermore, to teach that there is a special time of the year set aside for repentance and holiness is unbiblical. Christians are to walk in holiness and repentance every day.
Ash Wednesday– Again, yes and no. Mostly no, and for most of the same reasons Lent is generally unbiblical. The fundamental components of Ash Wednesday – repentance of sin and the pursuit of holiness – are biblical and should be practiced by all Christians every day.
In addition to the unbiblical facets of Lent, Ash Wednesday’s forehead ashes “disfigure[s] their faces that their fasting may be seen by others” which is the exact opposite of the humble way Christ teaches us to fast.
Mardi Gras– No. The drunkenness, sin, and lasciviousness that go along with typical Mardi Gras celebrations are patently unbiblical as is the idea of getting all the sin out of our systems before we have to start being good. The Bible teaches against these things.
Should Christians participate in…
Lent– Catholic observances of Lent – no. Some doctrinally sound churches and individuals freely choose to set aside a time of biblical fasting, prayer, and worship in anticipation of Easter. For Christians who observe Lent in this way, as long as it is observed in keeping with Scriptural principles, it can be a valuable and meaningful time of respite and renewal with the Lord just as it could if observed at any other time of the year.
Ash Wednesday– No. It is unbiblical, as cited above.
Mardi Gras– Christians should not participate in any sinful activities any day of the year, including Mardi Gras, nor believe or portray to others by their actions, the unbiblical “theology” behind Mardi Gras. (And as a non-theological aside, violent crime in New Orleans during Mardi Gras has made attending Mardi Gras parades and other events very dangerous.)
However, as I mentioned, in Louisiana, Mardi Gras has become much more of a cultural holiday than an observance with religious undertones. Many smaller towns (and even some larger ones) eschew the debauchery that takes place in New Orleans and offer family-friendly parades which are basically as innocuous as our local Christmas parades or a Fourth of July fireworks show. For Christians who have worked and prayed through the appropriate biblical principles and whose consciences allow them to participate in non-sinful Mardi Gras activities such as attending these types of parades, I believe this is an issue of adiaphora(Christian liberty) similar to participating in non-sinful aspects of Halloween. (Don’t forget to take along some tracts to hand out!)
*These articles are linked for informational purposes only. Obviously, I’m not endorsing Catholic websites or anything on a secular website that’s ungodly.
If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.
My “Cut To the Chase” articles are shorter form, bulleted discernment outlines, rather than a longer essay.
@JustinPetersMin wrote, “Experiencing God was one of the most damaging books introduced to the evangelical world in over a hundred years.”
That us a lot of power in a book. False doctrine does not only emerge from the pulpit. In fact, it is more likely to emerge from the tangential ministries in a church, such as the women’s Bible study, the church Library, or brought in as evil seeds from external conferences members attend elsewhere.
Why was “Experiencing God” so damaging? Let’s take a look.
Issue #1: Normalizing hearing from God
5 Solas wrote on X about Blackaby and Experiencing God, “The false teaching that the way God speaks to His people under the New Covenant is audibly or internally by some “still small voice,” and not through His all-sufficient written Word, has done unimaginable harm to the church. The idea that it’s not a personal relationship unless you are hearing voices or getting impressions is damnable. You are essentially saying that God doesn’t speak through His Word.”
This issue relates to the “Sufficiency of Scripture.” We often refer to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 when saying that God’s written word as contained in the 66 books of the Bible is enough for the Christian to learn, absorb, and live by. We do not see and interpret signs or omens, hear whispers, or listen to audible voices directing our steps. The verse says:
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.
Note the words- All, fully, every. Those words are quantifiers that indicate total, complete, or inclusive quantity. Note what the Bible is good for- all the things a Christian might need to do- teaching (and learning), training, rebuking. Note the benefits of living by the Word only- righteousness, capable, equipped.
How many verses does one need when we have such a perfect description of the Christian life right there in 2 Timothy? But wait, there’s more: Hebrews 4:12, Romans 15:4, Matthew 4:4 and other verses reinforce the sufficiency of God’s word alone.
Issue #2: Believing we can see where God is working
A refrain comes up frequently in the book: “watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work.”
One question: Where ISN’T God working? There is not one molecule not under his jurisdiction, command, and movement. If there is one maverick molecule in the universe (as Sproul famously said) then God is not God, not in control, and not working. It would invalidate His divine sovereignty.
One thought: Do we, being sinners with sin-darkened minds and a finite perspective, have the intelligence to see and know exactly where God is doing a work? The way Providence operates is that it sometimes can be seen but only AFTER the work is done.
One warning: God doesn’t ‘invite’ us to join Him. He commands us to do His will. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling and pursuing holiness is not a cafeteria experience of choosing. ‘I want to join Him there, but not there, that looks uncomfortable…’
Issue #3: That we can come to know God through our own, self-interpreted experiences
In the book, Blackaby (and co-author Claude King) constantly prioritize personal experience over the commands of God through scripture. From the book blurb at Lifeway: “God is inviting you into an intimate love relationship through which He reveals to you His will, His ways, and His work” but the book teaches that He does this not through scripture, but through our experiences and observations.
We don’t come to know God by looking around and observing. Romans 1 teaches that the danger in doing this is that we begin to worship the creation and not the creator.
Justin Peters said in his teaching linked below that, in “Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says this: “If you have troubling hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience.”
That is a dire warning that Blackaby and King issued in their book. ARE we in trouble is we don’t hear God speak? Many conscientious and committed Christians would not want to make a mistake in failing to do something God wants us to do, so they would in all diligence strain to listen. Others who are not as conscientious but are more prideful would seize that claim and puff themselves up as conduits for God. Many professing Christians did just that and claims began popping up like multiplying viruses that various people claimed to hear from God all the time and ‘He said…’
Peters continued, “I would submit to you that the resource, the book that is singularly most responsible for introducing charismatic theology into at least theoretically non-charismatic churches is Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby that came out in 1991. If you go back before 1991, at least in non-charismatic churches, almost everyone would have understood that God speaks to us through the Bible, we speak to Him in prayer. Today hardly anybody understands that; and I believe experiencing God is singularly most responsible for introducing these notions into non-charismatic churches.” –end Justin Peters quote.
The Bible is the most trustworthy source for living life under God’s heaven, for understanding HIs will, and for how to pursue holiness. God gave us His book and that is where He speaks, nowhere else. Avoid “Experiencing God” and experience living by His word from the Bible instead.
Further Resources
“The book that is singularly most responsible for introducing charismatic theology into at least theoretically non-charismatic churches is Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby…” said Justin Peters at the 2019 Truth Matters Conference.
Harry Ironside once said: “Jesus Christ is not a problem; He is the solution to every problem for life, for death, and for eternity.”1 In our world today where problems impact everyone it is great to know that as Christians we have the ultimate solution to everyone of them in the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s take a look at the three areas that Ironside talks about – life, death, and eternity.
Life
Life is full of problems. Sickness, money issues, the search for meaning, and a host of other pressing issues face all of us at one time or another. But praise God, no matter what problems you may be going through, it is so comforting to know that we can cast our cares on Jesus and He will pull us through every one of them. Scripture gives us the ultimate answer to life’s problems when it says: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). My friends, God will take every trial, every pain, and every problem we face in life and work it for good through Jesus Christ if we only trust Him. And even when we feel all may look hopeless – Jesus becomes our endless hope! For I have learned that one of the great secrets of life is that our problems serve as opportunities for us to be used by God to glorify Jesus by allowing His perfect will to be done in our lives.
Death
Death – it sounds so final. But for the child of God death is not the end but a wonderful transition into another stage of life where Jesus can use death to take those problems in life that seem unsolvable, and find a solution. For example, if we come down with an incurable disease, in this life, it may be permanent, but in the economy of God it is only temporary, because when we get to heaven we will be clothed with a glorified body and experience perfect health. And while the world views death as our final chapter in life, because of Jesus, death ushers us into our most exciting dimension of life – eternity!
Eternity
Eternity – it’s our future destination in life. It is where our future citizenship is with Jesus. It’s where we will be reunited with the tree of life that was forfeited in the garden of Eden. It’s where we will live in a land that has no night but we will experience the eternal light of Jesus. It’s a place where there is no more pain or tears, but only endless joy and bliss. And all of this is made possible by knowing and being a friend of Jesus – the ultimate problem solver. Eternity with Jesus is the dimension in life that has no problems and has no end. Eternity is where our problems are solved forever – and I can’t wait to meet my Savior there!
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, (3:15a)
Here the apostle again alludes to Isaiah 8:13, “Sanctify the Lord of hosts” (KJV). When believers sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts, they affirm their submission to His control, instruction, and guidance. In so doing they also declare and submit to God’s sovereign majesty (cf. Deut. 4:35; 32:4; 1 Kings 8:27; Pss. 90:2; 92:15; 99:9; 145:3, 5; Isa. 43:10; Rom. 8:28; 11:33) and demonstrate that they fear only Him (Josh. 24:22–24; Pss. 22:23; 27:1; 34:9; 111:10; 119:46, 63; Prov. 14:26; Matt. 4:10). Sanctify (hagiasate) means “to set apart,” or “consecrate.” But in this context it also connotes giving the primary place of adoration, exaltation, and worship to Christ. Believers who sanctify Christ set Him apart from all others as the sole object of their love, reverence, loyalty, and obedience (cf. Rom. 13:14; Phil. 2:5–11; 3:14; Col. 3:4; 2 Peter 1:10–11). They recognize His perfection (Heb. 7:26–28), magnify His glory (Acts 7:55–56; cf. Rev. 1:12–18), extol His pre-eminence (Col. 1:18), and submit themselves to His will (Mark 3:35; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 6:6; Heb. 10:36; 1 John 2:17), with the understanding that sometimes that submission includes suffering. This honoring of Christ as Lord is not external, but in the hearts of true worshipers—even when they must face unjust suffering. That submission to and trust in the perfect purposes of the sovereign Lord yields courage, boldness, and fortitude to triumph through the most adverse situations.
A READINESS TO DEFEND THE FAITH
always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; (3:15b)
It is not just endurance through the blessing of suffering that believers are to submit to; there is also the opportunity to defend the truth when they are being persecuted. Christians must be ready to make a defense of the faith. The Greek term for defense (apologia) is the word from which the English terms apology and apologetics derive. It often means a formal defense in a judicial courtroom (cf. Acts 25:16; 2 Tim. 4:16), but Paul also used the word informally to denote his ability to answer those who questioned him (Phil. 1:16). Always indicates believers’ need for constant preparedness and readiness to respond, whether in a formal courtroom or informally, to everyone who asks them to give an account for why they live and believe the way they do. Account is simply logos, “word,” or “message,” and it calls saints to be able at the time someone asks (present tense) to give the right words in response to questions about the gospel. The gospel is identified as the hope that is in believers. Hope is synonymous with the Christian faith because the motive for believers’ embracing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is their anticipation of escaping hell and entering eternal glory (cf. Acts 26:6; Eph. 1:18; 4:4; Col. 1:23; Heb. 10:23). Thus hope becomes the focal point of any rational explanation believers should be able to provide regarding their salvation. (For further insights into the meaning of hope, see the discussion of 1:3 in chapter 2 of this volume.) The believer’s defense of this hope before the unbeliever who asks must be firm and uncompromising, but at the same time conveyed with gentleness and reverence. Gentleness refers to meekness or humility, not in the sense of weakness but in the sense of not being dominant or overbearing (cf. Eph. 4:15, “speaking the truth in love”). The Lord Himself was characterized by this virtue, as was Paul: “Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1a). Reverence expresses devotion to God, a deep regard for His truth, and even respect for the person listening (Col. 4:6; 2 Tim. 2:24–26). Christians who cannot present a biblically clear explanation of their faith (cf. 1 Thess. 5:19–22; 1 John 2:14) will be insecure when strongly challenged by unbelievers (cf. Eph. 4:14–15). In some cases that insecurity can undermine their assurance of salvation. The world’s attacks can overwhelm those who have not “put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8; cf. Eph. 6:10–17).
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2004). 1 Peter (pp. 200–202). Moody Publishers.
15a. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Notice the following points: a. “Set apart.” In poetic form, Carolyn M. Noel captures the thought of the first sentence of verse 15. She exhorts her fellow Christians to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and King:
In your hearts enthrone Him,
There let Him subdue
All that is not holy,
All that is not true.
Christians must consecrate Christ Jesus in their hearts. The heart is the central part of man’s existence, “for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23). When the heart is controlled by Jesus Christ, the believer dedicates his entire life to him. Then the Christian is safe from fear and is able to defend himself against his opponents. Peter adapted this quotation from Isaiah 8:13, which has, “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy.” In his day, Isaiah told the people not to fear the invading Assyrian armies but to revere God. In his epistle, Peter has the same encouraging message. However, he changes the wording by honoring Christ as the Lord Almighty, so that he is the Lord Christ. The position of the term Lord in the sentence creates two different translations: “sanctify the Lord Christ” or “sanctify Christ as Lord.”36 Although both versions make good sense, I prefer the second translation because it imparts greater emphasis to the word Lord. b. “Be prepared.” When Peter exhorts the readers to be ready to witness for the Lord at all times, does he mean that Christians should speak indiscriminately about their faith? No, not at all. Jesus says,
“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs.” [Matt. 7:6]
Christians, then, must be discreet, “shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). They must “know when and how far and to whom it is expedient to speak.” Christians should respond to opportunities to speak boldly for the Lord Jesus Christ. When Peter tells the readers to be ready, he means that they not only should be willing but also should have the ability to speak for Christ. Therefore, they must know the teaching of the Bible and Christian doctrine so that they are always ready to give an answer. c. “Give an answer.” The admonition to “give an answer to everyone who asks you” is not limited to times when a Christian must take the stand in a courtroom. In some instances the Christian must defend himself against verbal attacks from hostile unbelievers. At other times he is asked to teach the gospel to a neighbor who shows genuine interest in understanding the Christian religion. The term everyone is inclusive and relates to all circumstances. When we revere Christ as Lord, we experience that “out of the overflow of the heart [our] mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). Accordingly, our verbal expressions should be exemplary, gracious, and wholesome. We should demonstrate an ability to give an answer to everyone who asks us about our faith in Christ (compare Col. 4:6). d. “Give the reason.” What does a Christian have? He has hope, says Peter. Although hope is one of the three Christian virtues (see 1 Cor. 13:13), faith and love seem to overshadow it. In sermons and discussions we often neglect to talk about hope. Nevertheless, in his epistle Peter mentions hope frequently. In the Greek, the verb occurs in 1:13 and 3:5, and the noun in 1:3, 21, and 3:15. What is the hope that a Christian possesses in his heart? “Hope is a patient, disciplined, confident waiting for and expectation of the Lord as our Saviour.” The writer of Hebrews exhorts, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” (10:23). 15b. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16. keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. a.“But do this with gentleness and respect.” Peter instructs the readers to exercise gentleness, and thus he echoes the words of Jesus (“I am gentle and humble in heart” [Matt. 11:29]), whose example the believer should adopt. When we sanctify Christ in our hearts, we should exercise gentleness and respect toward all men. In our behavior we exert ourselves to demonstrate gentleness toward persons who are spiritually weak (see Rom. 15:1–2). In our conduct we make every effort to show honor and respect toward God and toward those whom God has placed over us (2:13–17; Rom. 13:1–7). We strive to be living models of the example Christ has set. b. “Keeping a clear conscience.” Christians who have a clear conscience are readily motivated to show their respect and obedience to God. When as a prisoner in Jerusalem Paul defended himself before the Jewish Sandhedrin, he exclaimed, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day” (Acts 23:1). That is, before God he had done his missionary work in all sincerity and truth; his conscience was clear. c. “Those who speak maliciously against your good behavior.” To opponents of the Christian faith, a Christian who professes his faith in Christ has already provided sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Moreover, numerous accusations can be leveled at an innocent Christian. Notice the similarity with a preceding verse in this epistle. There Peter writes, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (2:12). Translators of at least two versions have adopted the reading of Greek manuscripts that have included the phrase as evildoers in 3:16. However, indications are that well-intentioned scribes in earlier centuries inserted this particular phrase by taking it from 2:12. The text itself is sufficiently clear with the words speak maliciously. d. “May be ashamed of their slander.” When unbelievers maliciously direct falsehoods against Christians who seek to live by the example Christ has set, truth eventually triumphs. When the evidence shows that the conduct of Christians is blameless, the unbelievers themselves are put to shame by their own slander (compare 2:15).
Practical Considerations in 3:15 The writer of Hebrews tells the readers to leave behind the elementary doctrines about Christ and to move on to maturity (6:1). A Christian must be able to formulate his faith in elementary propositions so that when he is asked about his faith, he is able to speak about the Christian religion. He must be able to lead others to Christ and refute the charges of unbelievers. In evangelizing neighbors, a Christian should have the elementary qualifications to teach others the way of salvation. When he confronts the attacks of the humanist and the atheist, a Christian should have a basic working knowledge of the Scripture to be able to substantiate the phrase the Bible says. And when members of sects ring the doorbell, the well-informed Christian should become the teacher to lead these visitors to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Epistles of Peter and the Epistle of Jude (Vol. 16, pp. 133–136). Baker Book House.
“Those gentlemen, who will be elected senators, will fix themselves in the federal town, and become citizens of that town more than of your state.” —George Mason (1788)
Jesse Jackson dies: Longtime civil rights/leftist activist Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. Jackson, a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr., turned his civil rights activism into political activism, twice seeking the Democrat presidential nomination in the 1980s. A gifted orator, Jackson was often celebrated for his rhetorical gamesmanship, as he regularly demonized Republicans as not just wrong but evil. An example of his cutting rhetoric came during a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement, when Jackson infamously called America the “land of the free and the home of genocide.” He went on, “We are, at our foundation, born in sin and shaped in iniquity.” In 2017, Jackson revealed he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and since then, he made far fewer public appearances.
Man identifying as woman murders two in Rhode Island: Less than a week after one of the deadliest school attacks in Canadian history, another man wearing a dress has gone on a rampage. Robert Dorgan, who was calling himself Roberta Esposito, killed his ex-wife and son and critically injured three others at a high school hockey game on Monday in Rhode Island. He killed himself when a Good Samaritan intervened. Someone believed to be Dorgan’s daughter said on video that he “shot my family” and “he’s dead now.” Some reports also show that Dorgan’s wife had left him after he began “transitioning.” Leftmedia outlets are inevitably tripping over themselves with pronouns and gender identifiers.
Trump insists FEMA step in even though Democrats are defunding FEMA: The collapse of the Potomac Interceptor sewage system has released over 300 million gallons of wastewater into the Potomac River since January, threatening an “ecological disaster.” Residents in the area have been warned to avoid contact with the river, including recreational activities, and to keep their pets away. Authorities say that drinking water is unaffected and is expected to remain safe. E. coli is a serious threat from this spill and will remain so as the spring thaws previously frozen bacteria. President Donald Trump addressed the issue last night, blaming Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for gross mismanagement and directing federal authorities to step in. Trump said FEMA will play a key role in the response, despite being currently defunded by Democrats.
School teacher killed by illegal fleeing ICE: Linda Davis of Savannah, Georgia, was on the street on a day when her school was closed for a planning day for her special education class. Guatemalan citizen and illegal immigrant Oscar Vasquez Lopez was also on the street that day because Joe Biden refused to enforce immigration law. In 2024, a judge issued a final order of removal, but Lopez was not removed. After ICE agents attempted to arrest Lopez on Monday, he fled in a car despite not having a valid driver’s license, performed a reckless U-turn, ran a red light, and collided with Davis’s car, ending her life. In a press release on the event, ICE highlighted that Lopez was egged on to evade arrest by such prominent Democrats as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Karen Bass, and Gavin Newsom, all of whom have issued guidance on how illegals can avoid deportation.
Frey’s sanctuary costs Minneapolis $200M: Minneapolis Democrat Mayor Jacob Frey likes to talk about how much he cares for the residents of his city as he blasts federal law enforcement for wreaking havoc and threatening the lives of citizens. However, when it comes to the actual price of Frey’s “care,” it looks much more like abuse when measured by the cost of his sanctuary policies on the city’s law-abiding, legal residents. Not only did Frey encourage lawlessness against ICE, costing the lives of two residents, but his pandering has led to lost revenue for small businesses. A recent report found that Minneapolis businesses lost more than $200 million in revenue due to Frey’s push for anti-ICE activism. Had he simply cooperated with the federal government in arresting the worst of the worst illegal aliens, businesses likely would have profited, especially with fewer criminals roaming the streets.
Judge to Trump: Put back the slavery exhibit: U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe ordered the Trump administration to restore a slavery exhibit to the historic Philadelphia mansion that was George Washington’s workplace and home while he served as president. The DOJ argued, “As with any national park or museum, reasonable minds might differ about what to display in the limited space available. But this is fundamentally a question of Government speech.” Rufe likened the removal of the exhibit to “the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984.” She explained that the federal government “does not” have “the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts.” The removal of the display was tied to President Trump’s order last year to remove from government property radical ideology passed off as history that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
Trump’s tax rates yield 11% higher returns: Filing taxes this year won’t be as painful for most Americans. On average, thanks to President Trump and the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which zero Democrats voted for — Americans will get an average tax refund that’s 11% higher than last year’s. The average tax return so far this year is $2,290. Those seeing the biggest returns are the top 10% of households, i.e., those who pay the most in taxes. However, the tax savings will affect all Americans, and because lower-income households generally file their taxes earlier than wealthier taxpayers do, this benefits the nation as a whole. With Democrats harping on affordability, Trump and Republicans can point to these tax returns as evidence that their economic policies are working for the American people.
Rent prices dropping across the country: Americans are paying less for their monthly rent, and the reason is not at all surprising. The administration reports that three million illegal immigrants have left the country since the start of Trump’s second term. Vice President JD Vance commented in a speech that fewer people means lower housing prices: “It’s very, very simple economics.” Top economists agree that the outflow of immigrants is driving down housing costs. Some are desperate to spin lower costs for Americans as a bad thing, pointing out that landlords who relied on illegal renters are being left in the lurch. Southern and Southwestern cities, including Atlanta, Phoenix, and Raleigh, have seen the sharpest decline in rent prices. Monthly rent has now declined for six months straight, reaching its lowest level since 2022 and down 6.2% from the peak that year.
Maxwell’s naturalization fraud: Documents released by the DOJ reveal that Ghislaine Maxwell lied on her naturalization application when acquiring U.S. citizenship 20 years ago. Court documents indicate that Maxwell is a British national with French citizenship who also became an American citizen in 2002. But as The Daily Caller reports, “Maxwell answered ‘no’ to two key questions on her application for naturalization: whether she’d committed criminal acts in the past or ‘procured anyone for prostitution.’” Since she was convicted of trafficking underage girls for prostitution for Epstein from 1994 to 2004, this is grounds for denaturalization. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, any naturalized citizen may be subject to denaturalization if they committed fraud or misrepresentation during the application process. The number of processed denaturalization cases is only about 11 annually. The Trump administration is attempting to increase that number to 100-200 per month.
Headlines
Schumer embraced ID laws to counter fraud in the 1990s, but now calls voter ID “Jim Crow 2.0” (Washington Times)
U.S. and Iran sit down for talks under growing shadow of Trump’s military threat (CBS News)
A defector explains the remote-work scam helping North Korea pay for nukes (WSJ)
Britain’s diminished military sinks to alarming levels (Washington Times)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.
Being a U.S. senator doesn’t seem too awfully complicated, does it? Mostly, you talk and you vote, right?
Last week, though, Senate Majority Leader John Thune introduced two more activities into the senatorial mix: hemming and hawing. Specifically, the melancholy Dakotan seemed to be soliloquizing about what to do with perhaps the most important piece of legislation that Republicans have proposed in a generation — namely, the SAVE Act, which recently passed the House 218-213, with Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar providing a smidgen of bipartisan support.
In a republic, nothing is more critical than free, fair, honest, and trustworthy elections. Nothing. And the SAVE Act checks those boxes in spades: first, by requiring would-be voters to prove their citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections; and second, by requiring certain forms of photo ID in order to cast a ballot.
Which is why I wondered: Why does Thune seem weak-kneed about holding the Democrats’ feet to the fire on an issue that enjoys 95% support from Republicans and 71% support from Democrats? Indeed, I wondered like Gunnery Sergeant Hartman wondered: What is your major malfunction, John?
No, Thune doesn’t need to nuke the Senate’s filibuster, but he does need to force a vote and thereby force the Democrats to stake and continually defend their positions — between now and the midterms — against proof of citizenship and photo ID. And then he needs to force the Democrats into an honest-to-goodness talking filibuster, a traditional filibuster like the one former Klansman and longtime Democrat Robert Byrd used to block the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Remember,” said Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, “the talking filibuster is best understood as the filibuster. Historically, senators have been required to speak in order to filibuster. You shouldn’t be able to have the benefits of the filibuster without doing the work of the filibuster, and that means speaking.”
Hear, hear!
Talk about an awful hand. Here’s Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer trying to defend his position against a piece of drive-by journalism from CNN’s Jake Tapper, who pointed out, “About 83% of the American people, including a majority of Democrats, support voter ID laws.”
“Well, yeah, the voter ID laws that, uhh, first, each state can have its own voter ID laws, and some do, and some don’t. But secondly, what they are proposing in this so-called SAVE Act is like Jim Crow 2.0. They make it so hard to get any kind of voter ID that more than 20 million legitimate people, mainly poorer people and people of color, will not be able to vote under this law. We will not let it pass in the Senate. We are fighting it tooth and nail. It’s an outrageous proposal that is, you know, that shows the sort of political bias of the MAGA Right.”
Got that? The “MAGA Right” is politically biased toward honest elections.
If you think Joe Biden got all 81 million of those votes in 2020 on the up-and-up, and if you tend to tsk tsk about those 315,000 improperly cast ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County, then the SAVE Act probably isn’t your cup of meat. But if you think the Democrats have been cheating at elections since long before Republican Norm Coleman was cheated out of an ObamaCare-deciding Senate seat in 2008 by Felons for Franken, if you think the Democrats have been cheating since even before Lyndon Johnson stole his way to a Senate seat in 1948, then the SAVE Act is for you.
By the way, here’s a handy list of everyday “Jim Crow” activities that routinely call for a photo ID: getting on a plane, renting a car, checking into a hotel or motel, buying beer or booze or cigarettes or certain kinds of cough medicine, gaining access to most office buildings and government buildings, going to a bar, applying for Medicare or Medicaid or Social Security benefits, applying for unemployment benefits or food stamps, buying a gun, getting a hunting license or a fishing license, obtaining a marriage license, going to a casino, renting an apartment, taking out a mortgage, opening a bank account, buying a cellphone, picking up a prescription, donating blood, adopting a pet, picking up a package at the post office, and gaining admittance to an NAACP convention.
Thune thus has a golden opportunity to expose the Democrats once again, this time for their implausible and racist claims that black and brown people simply aren’t capable of obtaining a photo ID.
And the stakes couldn’t be higher. Free and fair elections are at stake, of course — specifically, the November midterms. If the Democrats flip just a few House seats, they’ll get the gavels, the purse, the legislative agenda, and the power to subpoena witnesses and hold impeachment hearings — just as they did during Trump’s first term. And if that happens, you can kiss the Trump agenda goodbye. Ergo, Thune’s handling of the SAVE Act will have a direct impact on the Trump agenda — which is the agenda that the American people voted for so resoundingly in 2024.
So if you appreciate a good economy, low inflation, high affordability, cheaper gas, more take-home pay, closed borders, safer streets, and a strong America, you’d better have a plan to vote, and so should every like-minded person you know. Because the final two years of Trump’s administration are most definitely on the ballot.
Happily, Thune seems to have come around, at least partly. “We will have a vote,” Thune said yesterday. “We will make sure that everybody’s on the record, and if they want to be against ensuring that only American citizens vote in our elections, they can defend that when they have to go out and campaign against Republicans this fall.”
Still, Thune so far seems reluctant to force the Democrats into a real filibuster. But were the tables turned, I can guarantee the Democrats wouldn’t be reluctant. They’re like rust. They never sleep. For example, let’s compare Thune’s lack of urgency to the Democrats’ recent electoral actions in Virginia, where they’re proposing to turn one of the nation’s most accurately representative congressional districting maps into a spectacularly imbalanced 10-to-1 advantage for Democrats.
Remember: Thune has never been a pro-Trump Republican, an America First Republican. He came up through the Republican ranks at the hip of Mitch McConnell, who’s the most ardently and reflexively anti-Trump Senate Republican this side of Lisa Murkowski. The American people, and especially the good people of South Dakota, need to hold Thune’s feet to the fire on the SAVE Act and force the Democrats to very publicly and very painfully deny the overwhelming will of the American people.
Thune claims that requiring the Democrats to conduct a legitimate filibuster to stop the SAVE Act might have unforeseen consequences, including the risk of an endless amendment process, which he says could force Republicans in vulnerable seats to make difficult votes.
Okay, I’ll bite: Name one single issue, Senator, that more than 70% of Republican voters support and that the Republican Senate conference is against. One single issue. I’ll wait.
The truth is, a forced filibuster is exactly the kind of political power move Mitch McConnell would have made back when he supported his party’s president rather than opposed him. Back when he wouldn’t let Barack Obama fill Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat with Merrick Garland or any other leftist.
At this moment, with President Trump’s second term and his entire agenda in the balance, we don’t need a go-along, get-along Senate majority leader. We don’t need a reluctant supporter of Donald Trump’s agenda.
We need more than a talker. We need a street fighter, a throat puncher.
Nate Jackson: Presidential Wannabe AOC Face-Plants in Munich — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn’t offer coherent answers to virtually any question, revealing that she’s nowhere near ready for the White House.
Michael Swartz: With SNAP Limits, Prices Drop — Deflationary pressure has come from an unusual source: As states limit the items food stamps can buy, prices for some of those items fall.
Jack DeVine: The U.S. Presidency — It’s a brutal job. Sure, the perks are great, but the world is watching, the pressures are incessant, and the future of our nation rides on your every decision.
Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
“We have this bloated agency now … that’s dedicated to just taking people off our streets without any cause.” —New York Gov. Kathy Hochul regarding ICE
Make It Make Sense
“FEMA is incredibly important and, I will admit, is operating pretty well under this president. … But ICE is out of control.” —Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear explaining his support for a government shutdown
Nailed It!
“Um, you know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a um — this is, of course, a, um, very long-standing, um, policy of the United States and I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation — and for that question to even arise.” —Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) when asked if the U.S. should commit troops to defend Taiwan
Who Wants to Tell Her?
“[Nicolás Maduro] canceled elections. He was an anti-democratic leader. That doesn’t mean that we can kidnap a head of state and engage in acts of war just because the nation is below the equator.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who evidently needs a map
For the Record
“The gaffes by AOC are an example of what happens when a politician never faces real scrutiny in the press. He or she gets lazy and sloppy and then chokes on the big stage. The same thing happened to Harris.” —Laura Ingraham
Political Futures
“Britain does not need tinkering, minor reform around the edges. … It needs restoration. Full-scale restoration. A restoration of courage. A restoration of responsibility.” —British MP Rupert Lowe launching Restore Britain, a new political party
Upright
“We are bound to one another by the deepest bonds that nations could share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and the sacrifices our forefathers made together for the common civilization to which we have fallen heir.” —Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Good Questions
“Are we living as though freedom has a purpose? Have we remembered that liberty is not merely the absence of restraint, but the opportunity to align ourselves with truth? Have we treated freedom as a gift to steward — or as an entitlement to consume?” —Tony Perkins
ON THIS DAY in 1817, the first public streetlight powered by gas was lit in Baltimore, Maryland, after artist Rembrandt Peale brought the idea from England. Today, gaslighting is commonplace.
The former US secretary of state is attempting to distract from the Russiagate hoax, Kirill Dmitriev has said
Hillary Clinton is attempting to use Ukraine as a distraction to avoid jail time for her role in fabricating the Russiagate hoax, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said. The remarks come as Clinton has escalated attacks on US President Donald Trump’s approach to the Ukraine conflict.
Clinton delivered a belligerent speech at the Munich Security Conference last week, accusing Trump of pursuing a “disgraceful” policy toward Ukraine, and claiming he has “betrayed the West” and abandoned “human values.” The former secretary of state also touted a plan to provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles and expand strikes inside Russian territory.
In a post on X, Dmitriev responded by claiming Clinton “tries to use Ukraine as a distraction not to go to jail for her Russiagate hoax,” referring to attempts by Clinton and former US President Barack Obama to frame Trump’s 2016 campaign as colluding with Moscow.
Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill are scheduled to appear for deposition before the US House Oversight Committee next week as part of the ongoing investigation into late financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. However, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan has noted that Clinton will also face questions beyond Epstein, including about her campaign’s role in propagating the discredited Russiagate conspiracy.
The Russiagate scandal stemmed from the so-called Steele dossier, a collection of unverified allegations compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and funded by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. The dossier was used by the FBI to secure surveillance warrants against Trump associates, despite internal assessments that questioned its reliability.
Last year, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified over 100 documents revealing that Obama-era intelligence officials had “manufactured” intelligence to build the Trump-Russia narrative and suppressed findings that Moscow lacked both the intent and the means to interfere in the 2016 election. Gabbard described the effort as a “treasonous conspiracy” and a “years-long coup.”
The revelations prompted Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch a grand jury investigation into Obama and his intelligence team in August 2025.
Moscow has consistently denied any interference in the 2016 election, with Russian officials calling the allegations partisan fiction.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday’s “National Report” for struggling to articulate foreign policy positions at the Munich Security Conference.
Longtime Democratic megadonor John Morgan warned on Monday that Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s far-left record could hinder his chances of winning the presidency.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Politico on Friday that Newsom would “make a great president” and has promoted him privately as well as publicly, Axios reported on Sunday. Morgan said on NewsNation’s “CUOMO” that while having Pelosi’s support would aid fundraising, he was unsure whether Newsom could distance himself from his record as governor.
WATCH:
“Here’s his problem. And here’s what I told he his problem is: he decided to be the Democratic version of [President] Donald Trump. ‘You want to be mean, I’ll be mean. You want to be nasty, I’ll be nasty. You want to be an a-hole, I’ll be an a-hole.’ I told her, and I believe this, I think that’s a bad strategy,” Morgan said. “I think that by the time we get to 2028, America is going to be sick of meanness and chaos and that type of banter. But he’s decided that that’s going to help him. It gets him some money. People like meanness.”
Newsom has taken to imitating Trump, posting all-caps tirades and threats that echo the president’s style on social media.
“They may give him money, but in the long run, this is a horse race. And just because you’re leading out, because guess who else is leading?” Morgan continued. “[Former Transportation Secretary Pete] Buttigieg and [former Vice President Kamala] Harris. They’re not going anywhere. They’re never going to get out of the gate. So, it’s a long race. He’s got to be careful not to sprint too fast.”
Harris leads in 2028 Democratic primary polling, with Newsom second and Buttigieg third, according to the RealClearPolling average.
“His second problem, Chris, is going to be this: undoing everything he was for in California. Remember, $350,000 in reparations for each African-American,” Morgan told host Chris Cuomo. “He’s going to have to run from his woke … How’s he going to deal with his transgender swimming positions and everything that brought him there? Usually when you’re a governor, that’s an asset. His problem is his record is far far left and far far woke. And can he do the [former Republican Utah Sen.] Mitt Romney etch-a-sketch? I don’t know.”
Although Newsom told slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on a March episode of “This Is Gavin Newsom” that biological males competing in female sports was “deeply unfair,” he has supported several policies in California that undermine women’s spaces. California’s Department of Education has also refused to comply with the Trump administration’s demand to bar males from female sports and spaces.
Kirk also confronted Newsom during the episode over California’s “Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today” Act, which prohibits any requirement for schools to notify parents regarding changes to their child’s gender identity.
Moreover, the governor facedbacklash for saying he “want[s] to see trans kids” during a December episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.
Newsom signed a bill in 2022 making California a “sanctuary” for transgender-identifying children, enabling them to evade Republican-led state bans and parental consent laws and get sex change procedures.
“California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community, and we’re committed to the ongoing work to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all Californians,” Newsom once said in a press release announcing the signing of several laws geared towards transgender children.
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According to Gallup, trust in mass media has plummeted from roughly 70% in 1972 to just 28% today. That is not a dip–it is a collapse. Over fifty years, confidence has fallen by 42 percentage points, a generational unraveling of credibility. When belief disappears, authority soon follows.
Part 1: Most Americans think things such as gas, food, economic wellbeing, national unity, and the environment will continue the way they are today. “Most Americans” need to take a closer look at what’s really headed our way. When you know the facts, you can help change course. Perhaps avoid what happened to Europe’s invasion by incompatible immigrants.
Scientist Garrett Hardin’s, (www.garretthardinsociety.org) most notable arguments on immigration centered on “lifeboat ethics,” arguing that aiding others (via immigration or aid) destroys a nation’s own sustainability. He famously warned that “freedom in the commons brings ruin to all,” implying open borders lead to overpopulation and resource depletion.
What is “The Commons?” Answer: “The Commons” refers to resources, spaces, or assets that are being shared by a community rather than owned privately, managed through collective rules to ensure sustainability. These include natural assets such as forests, water, land and resources.
“In 1968, Science Magazine published Garrett Hardin’s often-cited essay “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Hardin made a broad argument about problems arising from using common goods which related to a long-standing debate about private versus public property. Hardin argued that the unregulated use of commons like land, forests or seas would ultimately wield destruction because individuals would seek to maximize their own benefits rather than keeping the common good intact. “Each man,” Hardin argued, “is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit—in a world that is limited.” He concluded that “freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.”
This five-part series will disturb your sense of America’s future. It will address harsh realities accelerating on our civilization like a 50 car/truck pile-up during a winter storm on some Interstate anywhere in America. Unfortunately, at some point, you or your kids will be a victim of that pile-up, one way or the other.
As a 60-year observer of the American scene, and extensive travels worldwide, I’ve seen what happens to civilizations like China, Indochina, India and others not prepared for what they did to themselves. Africans starve to death by the millions, yet they keep growing from 1.6 billion to 2.0 billion by 2050…a scant 24 years from now. (Source: United Nations Population Projections.)
I’ve examined a “bleak” paper by journalist Michael Herman:
Herman said, “I do not wish to be alarmist, but the fracturing and implosion of The United States of America as it has been known for two-hundred-and-fifty years, is inevitable.
“The real reason our nation will come apart has threads of truth in each of two factors, but it is important to recall that the Civil War began with the South receding from the Union, a secession, a self-removal.
“And it will be again at some time in the future. There are those under attack now who will one day see a clearer picture of our future as a nation and feel not a warmth and connection, but a detachment, and isolation. Forcing upon them the decision to recede from the United States.
“Those that I am speaking of are the American White population, who will not feel connected to a nation run by people of color, and in fact will feel put upon by some in charge of this country who wish to mete out some measure of retribution for the past sins of the American White population.”
According to documented statistics, back in 1965, White America measured at 90 percent of 194 million people. Black America at 7.0 percent. Hispanic America at 3.0 percent. Today, White Americans hit 62 percent. Blacks 13 percent. Hispanic 25 percent. We stand at 340 million plus 25 million illegal aliens within our midst. According to the Pew Research Center, Whites will become the new minority at 49 percent by 2042. Hispanics will become the majority.
What caused that? Since the 1965 Immigration Reform Act, an astounding 50 million immigrants now living in America are foreign-born, not counting the 25 million illegal aliens. Those immigrants have birthed tens of millions of babies. That’s 75 million minority immigrants along with their offspring now changing the racial, religious, world-view and political landscape in America.
“The simple fact is that viewing the Founding Fathers, they were all White,” said Herman. “Our foundational principles came from Europe, were built on the philosophy found rooted in Greece and Rome, the religions of Europe, the beliefs and the values of White Western society.
“But soon those Whites will be in the minority in this nation, and all those people of color who hold the reigns of power will begin to take this country in a different direction than we’ve been governed under for two-hundred-and-fifty years.”
Example: Think of a world where Ms. Ketanji Brown Jackson, a DEI hire to the Supreme Court is not the gadfly of the Supreme Court, not the jurist who appears to be an outlier for the worst in intelligence, case history knowledge, knowledge of the actual laws, and Constitutional basis for the laws to follow, but a jurist on a Supreme Court of all Ketanji Brown Jacksons.
Herman said, “Oh, I hear you doubting that claim, I hear you loud and clear, but one needs to understand that the guiding principles of the Muslim population in Michigan chanting, “Death to America”, the Somalian population in Minnesota scamming $19 billion in taxpayer fraud, and Springfield,Ohio Haitians, the Haitian population in Florida, are drastically different than those of our Founding Fathers. Are dramatically different than the foundational principles on which this nation was built. If you notice that Haiti features a population of 9.0 million, but remains in violent chaos 24/7. Millions of them are trying to migrate into America…where they will bring their culture, illiteracy, crime and violence with them.
In Detroit, Michigan, “Sharia Law” is in direct conflict with our historical freedoms and liberties. A large number of Blacks in America clearly do not share White values and culture, we are reminded daily of “Cultural Appropriation” by the Black community. If we were truly a melting pot of the same values and principles the very idea of “Cultural Appropriation” wouldn’t exist.”
I have visited Sharia Law-dominated Dearborn, Michigan three times over the past four summers. You haven’t seen what they’ve done to our once All-American city. It’s now Little Baghdad of America replete with Burka’s and long black robes worn by women, no American flags flown, 90 percent of them on welfare, Arabic writing everywhere, mosques dominating Dearborn, five calls to Allah daily, Whites unwelcome, FGM and Honor Killings documented. Same with Minneapolis, Minnesota. Same with Miami, Florida. Same with Springfield, Ohio. They are simply no longer American cities where everyone speaks English, plays by the rules and raises Old Glory.
Herman continued, “I am here to state emphatically, with certainty, with clarity, with strong purpose, that under an all-White societal United States of America there would never be a 70% unwed birth rate (That’s Black America), there would never be music that includes “Gangster Rap”, and “Wet Ass Pu**y” as standard, everyday entertainment fare. White America doesn’t commit crime to the level of the Black community here now, we do not murder each other the way they do in the Black Community such as Chicago’s weekly slaughters, our value system is completely different.”
Blacks view education, our educational system and standards, as “acting White”, which is not complimentary. As a former inner-city teacher, I can verify that reality.
Herman finished, “There is a certain date in the future, already pre-ordained, where minorities will combine to rule the United States of America. Minorities who not only embrace a different set of cultural standards, but who denigrate and mock those of the White race whose principles have served to run our nation. Within one, or two generations, of being under minority rule, the Whites of America will at that time vote to remove themselves from the control of those who run our government.”
“Why doesn’t multiculturalism work? The answer is that multiculturalism is essentially a form of relativism in which morality is relative to culture. The corresponding belief is that the members of one culture have no right to make judgments about the rightness or wrongness of another culture’s traditions or practices. . . Because of its inherent divisiveness, the multiculturalist model would eventually fail in any society. But it is particularly fatal to a society that has in its midst an aggressive cultural group (Muslims). By neglecting to stand up for their own values, traditions, and religious heritage – indeed, by denigrating them – European countries left themselves almost defenseless against a resurgent Islam. Islam’s success in Europe has been built in large part on European self-doubt.” William Kilpatrick
In other words, all of America faces a drastic change of cultural, religious, racial and resource upheaval. We face horrific shortages as to water, energy and resources. Worse, we watched it happen globally, and yet our Congressional Critters invited it into our civilization. If there’s any chance for us to survive what’s coming, we MUST STOP all immigration into America.
Part 2: Separating ourselves from ourselves. Loss of a cohesive “Social Contract.” Loss of the English language as a societal cohesion.
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