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
▶️LINK TO FULL AUDIO BOOK:
A Treatise of Earthly-mindedness – Jeremiah Burroughs
00:00:00 The Text Opened
00:08:15 Earthly-mindedness discovered in Nine particulars
00:41:11 Fourteen Evils of Earthly-mindedness
01:50:04 Six things may be wrought in a man, and yet Earthly minded and Nine Convincements of Earthly-mindedness
02:17:09 Seven Reasons of mens Earthly-mindedness
02:24:56 Eleven Considerations to take off mens’ hearts from Earthly-mindedness
02:50:19 Five Directions how to get our hearts freed from Earthly-mindedness
Jeremiah Burroughs (sometimes Burroughes; c. 1600 – London, November 13, 1646) was an English Congregationalist and a well-known Puritan preacher.
Burroughs studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was graduated M.A. in 1624,[1] but left the university because of non-conformity. He was assistant to Edmund Calamy at Bury St. Edmunds, and in 1631 became rector of Tivetshall, Norfolk. He was suspended for non-conformity in 1636 and soon afterward deprived, he went to Rotterdam (1637) and became “teacher” of the English church there. He returned to England in 1641 and served as preacher at Stepney and Cripplegate, London. He was a member of the Westminster Assembly and one of the few who opposed the Presbyterian majority. While one of the most distinguished of the English Independents, he was one of the most moderate, acting consistently in accordance with the motto on his study door (in Latin and Greek): “Opinionum varietas et opinantium unitas non sunt ασυστατα” (“Difference of belief and unity of believers are not inconsistent”).
Five Directions how to get our Hearts Freed from Earthly-mindedness – Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs
Official portrait of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Credit: Fred Schilling / United States Supreme Court
The dumbest Supreme Court Justice once again humiliated the legendary institution with not only her ignorance of the case at hand but with a question that resembled Kamal Harris’s worst word salads. The embarrassment was so severe that Justice Neil Gorsuch had to step in at one point.
Two bio males, Lindsay Hecox of Idaho and Becky Pepper-Jackson of West Virginia, sued their respective states, claiming they discriminate based on sex and transgender status. They claim the states’ laws ban every ‘transgender’ female from school sports, and treat them worse than others.
This is, of course, not true. West Virginia and Idaho are simply relying on science to ensure actual fair play and the rights of female athletes.
During oral arguments, Ketanji Brown Jackson ignored the biology and promptly took the side of the fake females.
At one point, she appeared to be trying to ask Idaho Attorney General Alan Michael Hurst whether transgender females who have undergone medical transition should be treated the same as actual men under equal-protection law.
But as one will notice, her question came out quite messy, which confused Hurst for a moment. Then she interrupted him to clarify further.
Hurst responded by schooling Jackson before Justice Gorsuch intervened at the end.
LISTEN:
JACKSON: So, to the extent that you have an individual who says what is happening in this law is that it is treating someone who transgender, but does not have, because of the medical interventions and the things that have been done, who does not have, uh, the same, uh, threat to physical competition and safety and all the reasons the state puts forward – that’s actually a different class, says this individual.
And uh, so you’re not treating the class the same. And how do you respond to that?
In other words, the as-applied challenge essentially redefines the class…So what is wrong with that number one and how do you square that with our uh, holdings, in Caban…In other words, Layer suggests that as-applied challenges of this nature do exist.
HURST: Well, certainly… Let me take a second for the question. Caban says nothing of “as applied.”
(Caban) says…
JACKSON: I understand, but those two cases were in juxtaposition with one another, and Layer comes out the way it does, disguising Caban on the basis that it is an as-applied challenge and we have a facial challenge, and it’s basically the same facts. So, if you’re right, these two cases can’t come out the way that they do.
HURST: I don’t think so, your Honor. Layer was briefed as a standing argument of maybe you might be able to argue that this law is overbroad, but you individually are not in the overbroad part. And therefore, you don’t get to challenge it.
The Court didn’t use language, like expressed stated language in the opinion, but that is the logic of the opinion.
GORSUCH: Mr. Hurst, there’s another way to think about the case. Your friends on the other side pause it.
Scott Jennings schools leftist podcaster Emma Vigeland after she pushes for a wealth tax. Credit: CNN screenshot
Scott Jennings closed out 2025 with another schooling of a clueless leftist on CNN when she advocated for a socialist tax scheme to punish the prosperous and productive in America.
As TGP readers may know, California leftists are pushing a “wealth tax” that imposes a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires.
As The New York Times reports, if the measure garners enough signatures to reach the state ballot in November and is approved by voters, it would retroactively apply to anyone who lived in California as of January 1, 2026. Individuals with $20 billion in assets who live in the Golden State on that date would face a ‘one-time tax’ of $1 billion.
Supporters of the proposal claim this would prevent cuts to social programs such as Medicaid. In reality, such a move would likely drive wealthy individuals and businesses out of the state, resulting in job losses and a decline in the tax base.
Many billionaires, including tech venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Larry Page, are already considering leaving California altogether.
Even California Governor Gavin Newsom senses the danger of this tax and opposes it.
On Tuesday, Jennings and panelists on CNN debated the merits of the wealth tax. One of the foremost defenders of the plan was socialist podcaster Emma Vigeland.
At one point, Jennings turned to Vigeland and asked her a fundamental question that a ‘good’ socialist like her should be able to answer: What is the number that makes you too rich?
Instead of answering directly, Vigeland was caught off guard and started sputtering for several seconds. She then finally said she wanted to raise taxes on the top 1%.
WATCH:
From California to New York City, the principle mission of the Democrats is to confiscate wealth and property from people they hate and redistribute it to their political constituents.
A New Year’s Eve celebration at Restaurant Martin in New York City, 1907. Library of Congress photo
I like to read old newspapers from the 1800s and early 1900s. Especially local ones. Their focus on the minutiae of life is charming to me. The notices of who visited who, who is sick, the price of potatoes, who sold their horse. But even more than that, those people could write well and had a large vocabulary. I especially enjoy reading their obituaries. The sendoffs from this world to the next are eloquent and emotional. They are so unlike today’s obituaries that are so fact-driven and dry.
Our local weekly paper has been in continuous operation since 1895. This is remarkable. Even more than that, many of the oldest newspaper editions have been preserved and digitized. It is these original images I like to read. The old time font, the ads for tonics and liquids sure to drive away the numerous listed ailments…all so amazing to look at from the vantage point of 130 years later.
I brought to my screen the 1895 newspapers looking for obits. I had an idea for a blog article. But like the squirrel I am, I soon jumped here and there to many other articles. The first papers that were preserved were from January 3, 1895, and I got involved in reading the New Year’s news and wishes. It was timely, seeing that I am in the same week between Christmas and New Year’s as that long ago paper, so I changed my focus to copy some of the more interesting published items from that time. This first one doesn’t have anything to do with New Years but I thought it was hilarious, both the incident itself and the paper’s response to it. Newspapers back were cheeky, let me tell you.
DECLINES TO SERVE. Mr. Wm. C. Berryman, who was recently appointed as a populist committeeman for Harrison district, requests us to announce in our columns, that he is not in politics at all, and that he will not accept the position, and further that he was appointed without his consent or authority. He said further on being interviewed that he was a democrat. We make this announcement for Mr. Berryman with pleasure and hope that he may never see fit to depart from the faith of his fathers. ~Danielsville Monitor, 1895.
My Note: Back then there were the political parties of the Republicans, the Democrats, and the Populists. Populists were new (1892) but suddenly very powerful. Democrats were the dominant party in Georgia at the time. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, “In 1892 Georgia politics was shaken by the arrival of the Populist Party. Led by the brilliant orator Thomas E. Watson this new party mainly appealed to white farmers, many of whom had been impoverished by debt and low cotton prices in the 1880s and 1890s. Populism, which directly challenged the dominance of the Democratic Party, threatened to split the white vote in Georgia.” (Source)
A very pretty custom was that of tasting the “cream of the well,” the first drink from spring or well on New Year’s morn. The first part of water drawn, the flower of the well,” insured positively the best husband in the parish to the water drawer.” ~Danielsville Monitor January 3, 1895.
“What a man is at 40 he is apt to remain. No amount of New Year’s resolves will help him who is not full of virtuous endeavor. Jan. 1 dawns brightly to the mind, but the succeeding days conclude dismally as to achievement. Nevertheless its recurrence must ever be pleasant. If it does not bring accomplishment, it at least brings hope, and hope nerves us to bear our burdens, to discharge our duties. We dearly love to think that the cares and troubles of the old year, which so largely spring from our temperament, will not invade the new one.” ~Danielsville Monitor, 1895
New Year’s Don’ts.
Don’t fail to receive New Year’s day with a smiling face. Don’t usher in that day by declaring you are growing old. Don’t sent word you are out because New Year’s calls are out of fashion. Don’t neglect to send a bonbon box to your best girl. Don’t receive an old friend gloomily on that day. Don’t trust to new 1895 and slander old 1894. Don’t fail to send New Year’s greetings to those far away. Don’t think you may meet your fate in 1895. Perhaps it will be better to miss him. Don’t be unfriendly. Do all the good you can, and don’t slander anybody. Don’t turn over too many new leaves for 1895. Don’t be unhappy about anything. Be a philosopher. Don’t deride the new year. Don’t make the day unhappy. Don’t lose your temper. Don’t fall in love. Don’t declare you hate men. Don’t celebrate too much.
————————- That is a long list of don’ts! Don’t fall in love?? Anyway, the reference to “New Year’s Calls” or in another article “Calling Day” was the custom of people to go about on New Year’s Day visiting. Since men were not working and women liked to keep up social ties, they took the opportunity to go all around and visit one another. But by 1895 this newspaper piece described the waning days of the custom-
Source, Library of Congress
Originally New Year’s was intended
not for a universal, miscellaneous calling day, without motive or pro- propriety, into which it ultimately degenerated. It was intended for a day when men who had been prevented during the year by business or any condition of circumstances from keeping up their friendship of acquaintance with women they liked or esteemed should pursue social atonement for apparent social neglect and renew their pleasant relations. The idea was excellent and commendable, as was the custom. Before this city grew to be such a Babylon the calls were agreeable, often delightful, to makers and receivers. But the city became too big, and the custom was grossly abused. Many men and women thought only of the number of calls, ignoring quality for quantity, and sometimes the scenes indoors, and outdoors waxed disreputable from overindulgence.”
LOL on calling this rural Georgia town in 1895 a ‘Babylon’. I guess every generation thinks it is the worst?
Carlton News, January 3, 1895 Danielsville Monitor
‘Xmas is over and I think it has been a week of quiet, pleasant enjoyment in our town. There has been nothing to mar the happiness of our people. The usual dinners, suppers, and sociables for young and old which has been immensely enjoyed by all, and the most enjoyable occurrence was the beautiful snow which visited us last Sunday evening and now comes the new year with its number of good resolution and pledges, which we hope to see complied with and feel confident that this year will be more prosperous, and happy than the past. We wish the Monitor a happy, prosperous New Year.
–It must have been a memorable holiday to one and all here in Georgia to receive snow!
Happy New Year, Danielsville Monitor, January 3, 1896
The old year, has passed away and the new year has been ushered in. We should now lay aside all our prejudices and little petty differences, and start the new year on a higher plain. All of our new resolutions should be carried out faithfully, and we should try to make this the most prosperous year of our lives. We are all one people and all of our common interests are the same, therefore we should all strive to that end, that all may be benefited. So here is our happiest greetings to you for the New Year, and we hope that when the end of this new year shall come that you all will be our friends still, and that we will have many new ones added to our list, and we hope that not an enemy will have been made.”
Sometimes 130 year old sentiments are good ones! Happy New Year to all of you from The End Time blog.
You know a Democrat is in serious trouble when they get negative coverage by a reliably left wing outlet like the Washington Post.
In the case of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, it wasn’t just a reporter or columnist calling out his budget proposal, it was the Editorial Board.
It seems they are concerned about the unfunded liabilities in the city’s pension programs. Johnson wants to create new taxes and raise some existing ones. The Washington Post sees this for what it is – a financial band-aid that won’t stop the bleeding.
Chicago has long-term structural problems with its finances, thanks in large part to wildly underfunded pensions. The country’s third-largest city has a history of using short-term gimmicks to paper over its problems, such as a notorious 2008 deal that sold off 75 years of future parking meter revenue for $1.15 billion, which was quickly spent. That deal is still hurting finances today, which should have taught local politicians that there is no substitute for serious fiscal reform. Alas, apparently not.
The city’s net operating budget increased almost 40 percent between 2019 and 2025, “subsidized in large part by temporary federal pandemic funding that kept the City financially afloat,” according to Grant McClintock of the Civic Federation. “The pandemic is over, but many of the programs and personnel positions established during that time remain, and without the benefit of the federal funding that previously supported them.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) proposes to offset a $1.15 billion shortfall by taxing the businesses that anchor Chicago’s economy, borrowing and more gimmicks.
The mayor proposes to increase the tax on the lease of “personal property” like computers, vehicles and software from 11 percent to 14 percent, and to bring back the city’s “head tax,” which would result in large employers paying $33 per worker, per month.
By making it more expensive to do business or hire workers in the city, these measures threaten Chicago’s future economic growth and tax collections. These moves are especially reckless given that the Chicago Fed’s 12-month hiring outlook is the weakest it’s been since the pandemic. Gov. JB Pritzker (D) says the head tax would penalize employment.
Johnson was asked about this during a press event and rejected it, naturally. Watch:
WATCH: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responds to a Washington Post editorial today that criticized his head tax proposal.
Senate Republican Leader John Thune took to the Senate floor with a bombshell revelation: a brand-new Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit shows that Obamacare’s subsidy system is so riddled with loopholes that 90% of GAO’s fake, fictitious identities were approved for taxpayer-funded health plans, without proper documentation.
According to the GAO’s findings, Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces, run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), approved subsidized health coverage for nearly all of the watchdog’s fictitious applicants in 2024 and 2025.
In other words, the federal government is sending real tax dollars to cover insurance for people who don’t exist.
And it gets worse.
GAO investigators created 20 fictitious identities, some with completely invalid Social Security numbers, some with mismatched personal information, and attempted to sign up for subsidized Obamacare plans through HealthCare.gov and broker-assisted channels.
The result? 18 of 20 fake applicants were approved and continued receiving benefits as of September 2025.
The federal government even paid over $10,000 per month in subsidies for these imaginary enrollees.
In late 2024, all four fake applicants received fully subsidized insurance.
GAO writes plainly that “the federal Marketplace approved subsidized coverage for nearly all of our fictitious applicants” and that these approvals strongly suggest persistent systemic weaknesses.
For example:
One fake enrollee received approval after submitting no proof of income or identity.
Brokers were able to push applications through even when SSNs were flagged as invalid.
Some fake applicants were never asked to verify citizenship, income, or SSN at all.
GAO concluded that weaknesses in identity proofing, income verification, documentation requests, and backend fraud-control processes persist year after year, unchanged since similar failures GAO documented in 2014–2016.
The GAO report also details stunning examples of systemic breakdown:
1. SSNs used dozens — even hundreds — of times
GAO found over 29,000 Social Security numbers that were used for more than a full year of coverage in 2023 — an obvious hallmark of identity fraud. One SSN was used for over 26,000 days of cumulative subsidized coverage — equivalent to 71 years across 125 separate insurance policies.
2. Subsidies paid for enrollees matched to the Social Security death file
GAO identified over 58,000 SSNs receiving subsidies in 2023 that matched federal death records.
Among them:
7,000+ SSNs belonged to people who died before they were supposedly enrolled, and
19,000+ matched SSNs used in applications with entirely different names and birthdates, suggesting synthetic identity fraud.
At least $94 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies were connected to cases where SSNs matched deceased individuals.
3. $21 billion in subsidies showed no evidence of tax reconciliation
Obamacare requires recipients to reconcile subsidies on their tax returns. GAO found that in 2023 alone, $21 billion in subsidies showed no record of reconciliation with IRS tax filings — another massive indication of program exposure to fraud and noncompliance.
The GAO confirmed widespread abuse by Obamacare brokers, many of whom receive commissions based on the number of enrollments.
Investigators found at least 30,000 applications (2023) and at least 160,000 applications (2024) showed fingerprints of likely unauthorized enrollment changes, meaning brokers were quietly switching consumers’ plans—or signing them up without consent—to collect payouts.
CMS received:
183,000+ complaints of people being enrolled without consent, and
90,000+ complaints of unauthorized plan changes, before admitting the problem and suspending 850 brokers. CMS later reinstated all 850 due to “procedural requirements.”
Senator Thune blasted Democrats for refusing to strengthen verification systems or stop bleeding taxpayer dollars:
“This is what the GAO found, the Government Accountability Office, Mr. President. And this just came out literally just this last week. That Obamacare subsidies granted without documentation to 90% of fake accounts.
So in other words, what the Government Accountability Office did is they ran an audit of the exchanges in which these insurance policies change hands and found that 90% of these fake accounts were granted subsidies without documentation.
And so we have spiraling health care costs, a program incredibly vulnerable, as this is evidence, vulnerable to fraud and abuse. And again, Democrats are proposing that we do. Absolutely nothing.”
Republicans have made it very clear that we would like to work with Democrats to address the affordability of health care and find solutions that actually reduce costs.
But Democrats are not really after health care solutions. They’re after a political issue. pic.twitter.com/UsQw8gtAr0
Remember all of the outrage from liberals and climate hoaxers over the Amazon Rainforest burning?
The same people telling you that you need to take shorter showers, drive less, consume less meat, scrap your gas stoves and appliances, and drive electric cars– all to ensure “climate equity” and save minorities– flocked to Brazil in their private jets and limousines for the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference this week.
And solely for their expedience and access to the summit, Brazil reportedly chopped down tens of thousands of acres of trees, harming local Brazillians, to make way for a new four-lane highway through the Amazon rainforest.
Claudio Verequete, an Acai berry farmer in the area, told BBC, “our harvest has already been cut down. We no longer have that income to support our family.”
Additionally, animal habitats have been destroyed, and conservation efforts will be impacted. Yet, this is exactly what those at the UN’s COP30 summit will likely preach against.
Via BBC:
Remember this when your liberal cousin complains about Trump at Thanksgiving dinner in a couple weeks!
The executive editor of Climate Depot, a site dedicated to correcting hoaxes pushed by climate change-alarmists, Mark Morano, told Fox’s Charlie Hurt that the whole situation is “turning into a disaster” for the UN and trolled the leaders. He further called on Trump to pull out of the U.N. Framework on Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) treaty.
“If we can get out of that, it makes it harder for a future president, AOC or Gavin Newsom, to get us back into this UN climate mess,” Morano said. “Mr. President, tear up that treaty from 1992. That’s what we’re imploring the Trump administration to do.”
Trump shared the following clip from Fox on Truth Social:
Morano: The Brazilian environmental minister actually bragged, the reason they had to clear cut tens of thousands of acres for this four-lane highway for this UN Climate Summit was so they could cram as many people here as possible to showcase how Brazil has been saving the rain forest. So, this has been an amazing thing, because this highway went through the rainforest that they’ve been trying decades— “We’ve got to save the rainforest! We need climate trees!” And here they just cut it down, so you could have all the limousines, and SUVs, and all the private jets come in, and people can move freely at this summit, which is turning into a disaster here for them.
Hurt: You said that this is the first time since this started back in 1992 that the United States is not invited, that you’re actually our US envoy to, which I’m very grateful to, by the way, for that, but that even a lot of European countries are pulling back from all of this.
Morano: Yeah, I call it the Trump effect. Since George HW Bush signed the Rio Earth Summit treaty, United Nations Framework Convention in 1992 to appear green to try to beat Bill Clinton— It didn’t work— we’ve been in this mess, and this is the first time there’s been no US delegation. God bless the Trump administration. So, I’ve self declared myself the US delegation here at the UN conference. I don’t think that comes with any perks. We’ll see. But this whole summit has had, as you mentioned, over 100 nations fail to even submit their targets. There’s no interest in this. Canada’s zeroing out their carbon tax. Throughout Europe, they’re walking away from net zero because reality hits! And our message here, by the way, to the Trump administration is simple: Get us out of this 1992 Treaty, which was ratified by the Senate. If we can get out of that, it makes it harder for a future president, AOC or Gavin Newsom, to get us back into this UN climate mess. Mr. President, tear up that treaty from 1992. That’s what we’re imploring the Trump administration to do.
President Trump seemingly took note of Morano’s suggestion, commenting on the “big scandal” this morning.
They ripped the hell out of the Rainforest of Brazil to build a four lane highway for Environmentalists to travel. It’s become a big scandal!
Matt Taibbi, editor-in-chief of Racket and Mike Davis, President of the Article III Project were both on “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the criminal charges and indictments of James Comey and Leticia James.
“Former FBI Director Jim Comey pleaded not guilty to federal charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Leticia James was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on bank fraud charges for allegedly making false statements on a mortgage application that netted her about $19,000,” Bartiromo explained.
“Let me first get your reaction to all of this, Matt Taibbi?” Bartiromo asked.
“I think the Comey case, especially with you know, the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, all the crossfire investigations. I thought at the time those should have been enormous Watergate level stories because it was about surveillance of a major party Presidential candidate,” Taibbi said.
“Now I think in conjunction with Arctic Frost, you have all these Senators who are finally seeing that domestic political surveillance has been a major unreported problem in this country for a long time,” Taibbi said.
“Mike, is all of this connected? We’ve been covering obviously the Russia collusion lie for a decade and my viewers are well aware that it was fake from day one,” Bartiromo asked.
“Is this enough to create a conspiracy charge against Jim Comey and his friends who were part of that cabal?” Bartiromo asked.
Davis explained that the current indictments were just the beginning. He explained that the biggest potential indictment yet to come would be a conspiracy charge.
“Ya, those indictments we just saw for Comey and Tish James are the appetizer indictments, and the big one, the main course, is gonna be the conspiracy against rights,” Davis said.
“I’ve publicly called for this for the last three plus years since the Mar-A-Lago raid. Remember this with the Russian collusion hoax. The Democrats made this up to help Hillary Clinton’s campaign, to cover up her corruption, and to take out Presidential candidate Donald Trump. They failed, President Trump went into office and so they tried to destroy him,” Davis said.
“They tried to destroy him with the lawfare because he declassified Crossfire Hurricane before he left office the first time,” Davis explained.
“And you believe that the Mar-A-Lago raid was also part of it? They were actually looking for the assessment of Russia’s influence campaign targeting the 2016 Presidential election. It was declassified. I have it right here. Do you believe that is what they were looking for?” Bartiromo asked.
“One thousand percent,” Davis said.
“They did this to cover up their own corruption. This is the biggest scandal in American history. They politicized and weaponized intel agencies and law enforcement to take out their political enemy. This is third world stuff,” Davis said.
“I would say to these lawfare Democrats, justice is definitely coming,” Davis continued.
Watch:
Today, exclusively on @SundayFutures with @MariaBartiromo, Racket News Editor-in-Chief Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi and Article III Project President Mike Davis @mrddmia spoke about former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James facing federal criminal… pic.twitter.com/leiKctIAsG
New York State Attorney General Letitia James, long claiming to be a public champion of tenants’ rights, has herself been in violation of New York City’s rent stabilization laws for more than two decades.
Since purchasing a four-story apartment building at 296 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn in 2001, James has failed to register the property with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) as required for rent-stabilized buildings.
By failing to register, she denied her tenants the protections of rent stabilization, while collecting rents above the legally regulated amounts for 24 years. New York City’s housing code is based on its “Rent Stabilization Law of 1969,” which was designed to shield tenants from large rent raises, unlawful deregulation, and eviction abuses.
Screenshot
It sets yearly allowable rent increases, typically at around 3% per year. The law applies to qualifying buildings and requires landlords to register with DHCR and file annual reports on tenants, rents, and lease terms.
The NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) issues Certificates of Occupancy to establish the legal number of units in properties. That designation is the one and only controlling legal authority for unit count. The three most recent Certificates of Occupancy for Letitia James’s building at 296 Lafayette Avenue are:
1961: Authorized as seven (7) family units, with the building officially designated as a “Class A Multiple Dwelling.”
1981: Two decades later, the legal unit count was reduced to four (4) apartments, reflecting an authorized combining of units. 2001: This Certificate of Occupancy updated the building to a FIVE (5) FAMILY DWELLING, which remains its designation today.
The Rent Stabilization Law of 1969 said that any building constructed before January 1, 1974, with six or more apartments, is subject to “Rent Stabilization” laws.
The critical point for Letitia James is that, according to the 1961 Certificate of Occupancy, the last one before the passage of the Rent Stabilization Law in 1969, her building at 296 Lafayette Avenue had seven (7) units. This meant that when the law took effect in 1969, James’s building was permanently entered into rent stabilization program.
Once a building is subject to rent stabilization, that status “runs with the building” forever. Later reductions down to four units, or back up to five units, can never legally strip the building of its original rent stabilization regulatory status.
Courts and DHCR have repeatedly emphasized that a landlord cannot deregulate a property from rent stabilization by simply reducing the number of units through alterations or new Certificates of Occupancy.
In Gersten v. 56 7th Ave. LLC (2005), New York’s highest court held that rent stabilization coverage cannot be destroyed by unilateral landlord action.
Despite her registration requirements, public records show that Letitia James has never registered 296 Lafayette Avenue with DHCR since her purchase in 2001. Nor has she filed the required annual tenant registrations for any of her building’s apartments.
The consequences of James’s failure to register are significant. Under RSC § 2528.4, a landlord who fails to register may not lawfully collect any rent increases. Having never registered since 2001, any rent increases by James since 2001 were unlawful.
In fact, if James charged tenants above the last legal rent increase in 2001, they can file overcharge complaints. DHCR and the courts may impose a refund of overcharges plus 9% annual interest, plus treble damages.
Given that her apartment building has been unregistered for nearly a quarter century, the potential overcharge and penalty exposure for Letitia James is massive.
Ironically, Letitia James has consistently positioned herself as a defender of rent stabilization laws and tenants’ rights in New York City.
She has argued that rent stabilization is a vital safeguard for working families, especially during periods of economic stress such as the COVID-19 crisis, and that her office would “do everything it can to defend New York’s rent laws and protect struggling tenants.”
James has even pursued direct legal action against landlords who violated rent stabilization protections. In August 2025, she sued Zara Realty for overcharging tenants in Queens, accusing the company of exploiting subsidy recipients, ignoring rent reduction orders, and pursuing unlawful evictions.
I have recently chronicled in The Gateway Pundit Letitia James’s fraudulent real estate and mortgage filings in which she obtained mortgages by misrepresenting her unit count.
Now, Letitia James’s failure to register with DHCR since 2001 undermines the integrity of New York City’s rent regulation as a whole.
Tenants lose the protections they are entitled to, including regulated leases, lawful rent raise limits, and the ability to challenge illegal increases. Meanwhile, the city loses accurate data on housing stock, frustrating policymakers’ ability to assess affordability.
Above all, the issue is about fairness and accountability. There is no higher standard for a person who holds the office of state Attorney General than upholding the rule of law, not just in words, but in deed.
New Yorkers can no longer stand for an Attorney General who abuses both the law and her constituents for personal financial gain.
For the integrity of her public office, Letitia James should resign her position as Attorney General, register her apartment building with DHCR, and make financial restitution to the many tenants whom she has badly mistreated for the past 24 years.
The corporate media has been working overtime to downplay the trans terrorism last week at a Catholic School in Minnesota because it did not fit the narrative they were hoping to push. One CNN host ended up getting wrecked, though, after trying to pull this stunt this morning.
As The Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson reported, a shooting occurred Wednesday morning at Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Annunciation Church and Catholic School.
According to reports, students were attending an all-school mass on Wednesday morning when the gunfire started. Two children were killed, and 14 were injured, while three adults were also wounded.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that the shooter, who died of a self-inflicted wound, was a male in his early 20s. He has been identified as Robin Westman, a deranged anti-Christian transgender leftist who wrote “kill Donald Trump” on one of his firearms.
On CNN’s State of the Union, guest host Brianna Keilar hosted Dr. Sebastian Gorka, the deputy assistant to President Trump and senior director for counterterrorism, to discuss the despicable act of terrorism. She attempted to play down the clear pattern of attacks on Christians by the trans community by deliberately obscuring facts on mass shootings to make it appear like it was a rare circumstance.
But Gorka quickly noted the huge problem with he data set Keilar was using: she was including trans terorism in her data with gang violence, which has nothing to do with ideology.
When one removes gang violence, one deals with a much smaller data set.
WATCH:
NOW: Gorka SHUTS DOWN CNN’s fake narrative that 96% of mass shootings were carried out by non-trans men.
There’s one BIG problem with that data set…and @SebGorka exposed it live for all to hear.
KEILAR: Um, so let me ask you about this. When you are looking at the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center looking 172 mass attacks in the U.S. between 2016 and 2020. 96% of the attackers were non-trans men.
So I know you’re focusing on the shooter being trans, uh, the shooter was trans, and that is certainly of note. But are you missing the bigger picture here when you zero in on that…And you perhaps miss through line that connects them all?
GORKA: Well, no, because your facts obfuscate two things: You are using data based on the predominant gun violence, which is gang-on-gang violence with zero ideological content.
If you remove all of that, the gang violence on the streets, then you come down to a much smaller data set. So, it’s like those who say ‘gun violence in America causes so many deaths’ and then fail to note the majority of the stats they are using also refer to suicides by gun, which, of course, is not what we are talking about here today.
So let’s concentrate on mass shootings at schools, especially Christian or Catholic schools; then the data set is wholly different. So, don’t conflict with different datasets just to make a political point.
There was an ideological content to this attack. that’s what terrorism is. It’s not becuase somebady didn’t get the drug deal they wanted. It is an ideological message.
That has nothing to do with gang violence. Let’s not mix the two things up.
Keilar, then tried to to use CNN ‘facts’ on schoool shooting since 2020 involving transgender individuals but this quicly backfired as well when Gorka called her out and pointed out CNN’s constant lies during that time.
HOLY SMOKES: Sebastian Gorka just NUKED CNN live on their own network over their use of FAKE data on transgender shootings.
There’s no coming back from this.
As Brianna Keilar tried to push her narrative…claiming only 3 school shootings since 2020 involved transgender… pic.twitter.com/XOqjBN8H7e
KEILAR: By CNN’s count, when you look at 32 school shootings sicne 2020, only three were committed by transgender shooters.
GORKA: yeah, forgive me if I don’t go with CNN’s stats, okay?”
CNN has proven itself to be wholly inaccurate in all kinds of things for the last ten years. Perpetrators of the Russia Russia hoax, and that we didn’t have an open border. So please forgive me if I don’t take your stats for granted.
KEILAR: It’s simple math, two of 32…
GORKA: It’s not simple math. It’s distortion. You are distorting the facts.
Let me be clear, in just a couple of years, we have seen seven mass shootings involving people of transgender nature or who were confused in their gender. SEVEN in just the last couple of years. That is inordinately high.
I’m going to stick with the facts and not CNN’s pseudo-facts.
Cracker Barrel appears determined to alienate every last conservative customer as it doubles down on wokeness. This time, it’s over their classic game.
As TGP readers may know, Cracker Barrel has a legendary peg game on all the restaurant’s tables. Previously, the game trolled players who had trouble in classic Southern style: “Leave only one—you’re a genius. Leave two, and you’re purty smart. Leave three, and you’re just plain dumb. Leave four or mor’n, and you’re just plain eg-no-ra-moose.”
Now, the game has been altered so as not to hurt the feelings of any snowflake. Now, Fox News reveals the message reads as follows when a player keeps stumbling:
“Don’t be embarassed, try again!”
In addition to the new PC language, people in the company apparently failed English in grade school. How embarrassing (this is the correct spelling).
A Cracker Barrel spokesperson, though, told Country Living that nothing has really changed despite the woke message.
“The peg game is still the same peg game our guests have known and loved for years, and some may look visually different now, but the rules and fun remain completely unchanged,” the spokesperson said.
Social media users erupted in anger and amusement upon learning about Cracker Barrel’s latest stupid decision. They also noticed the misspelled word.
In Cracker Barrel’s process of rebranding from old-timey to modern old-timey and killing their business, they woke-ified the peg game to minimize hurt feelings of those who don’t do so well. Did they actually misspell a key word? pic.twitter.com/WYpeOCGQCN
I will NEVER eat here again! Full stop. Sometimes I would just go into the gift shop to buy gifts for baby and wedding showers. Absolutely never again. https://t.co/7YAjNPE1XQ
Cracker Barrel’s gone soft with this woke peg game nonsense can’t even handle a little friendly jab anymore! This is why I’m done eating there; they’re just pandering to feelings over fun. Hope they learn quick before they lose more customers like me
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Cracker Barrel’s woke CEO Julie Felss Masino sparked a social media uproar after making an infuriating change to an iconic part of the restaurant chain.
Last Tuesday, the company announced that it was replacing its 47-year-old logo as part of an attempted $700 million rebrand. The old logo shows the restaurant name next to a man sitting on a chair and leaning on a barrel.
Now, the only thing left is the name. No more man and barrel.
Greg Gutfeld lost it on his liberal co-host Jessica Tarlov during The Five today.
Tarlov was trying to basically pull a ‘but her emails!’ over the shocking new details in the Russiagate hoax while hyping Epstein stories, as if that topic is more important.
Greg cut her off in what seemed like a genuinely unplanned moment and read her the riot act.
TARLOV: …suddenly they won’t be mad at Trump anymore for not releasing the Epstein files or whatever he had to do with any of it. It’s preposterous that we were talking about Hillary Clinton’s emails again in 2025.
GUTFELD: We have no choice. We spent years on this story.
TARLOV: We had no choice?
GUTFELD: No, let me finish. We had to take this story seriously for years, and it was false.
TARLOV: It wasn’t false.
GUTFELD: No, no, for people to understand what happened, all right, because the problem with this story is that nobody knows what you’re talking about.
When Trump won in 2016 the intel community concluded that Russia didn’t have a hand in his victory. Instead of accepting the conclusion, Obama determined and wanted a new conclusion, so he sent Brennan running to come up with a new collusion, that there was some kind of trivial involvement that then they could feed out to the media, and coincidentally, dozens of news organizations said that Trump was in bed with Putin and that somehow Brennan knew Brennan knew. How did he know? There was no proof. There was no nothing. There was no proof.
TARLOV: Why did Brennan do nothing?
GUTFELD: No, let me finish. They amplified a false conclusion that Trump colluded with Russia in 2016 we had to spend years dealing with that, and now we’re actually getting investigation, and you’re saying, “No, you know what, you guys should just move on. You guys should just move on.” You say the same effing thing about Biden’s brain. You guys spent four years telling us that Joe Biden was fine. You covered up for an invalid. And then when we get the truth, it’s like, “Oh, you know what? It’s time. We got to look forward. We got to start talking about what’s there.”
This left trillions in payments blank and unable to be traced. Republican Senator Rick Scott introduced a bill – the LEDGER Act – requiring the Treasury Department to track all payments.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt has called for an investigation into where the untraceable payments have been going. He said,”There’s so much waste. There’s so much fraud, There’s so much abuse in our government. I’m glad there was a laser-like focus on it. We ought to make many of those reforms permanent, but there probably ought to be some investigations here about where this money actually went. I mean this is taxpayer money. People work hard.”
In February, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) uncovered $4.7 trillion in payments made by the US Treasury that are “almost impossible” to trace – as Treasury Account Symbol (TAS) identification codes were optional in the system. This left billions in payments blank and unable to be traced.
“Of the 1.5 billion payments that we send out every year, they are required to have a TAS, a Treasury Account Symbol. We discovered that more than one third of those payments did not have a TAS number,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services earlier this month.
“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible,” DOGE announced via its X account. Thanks to DOGE, those “optional” days are over. “…this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going,” DOGE added.
So while the TAS field is now mandatory, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has called for an investigation into where the untraceable payments have been going.
“There’s so much waste. There’s so much fraud, There’s so much abuse in our government,” Schmitt told Fox News. “I’m glad there was a laser-like focus on it. We ought to make many of those reforms permanent, but there probably ought to be some investigations here about where this money actually went. I mean this is taxpayer money. People work hard.”
In March. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced a bill – the LEDGER Act – requiring the Treasury Department to track all payments.
In a fitting tribute to Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, the International Gutenberg Society unveiled what they claim is “the world’s largest page of the Bible” on April 26 in Mainz, Germany. This colossal reproduction of the first page of the Gospel of John is 23.6ft high and 16.4ft wide and marks the 625th anniversary of Gutenberg’s birth.
The record-breaking page was crafted using a massive wooden printing block, constructed “from the largest industrial paper rolls available on the market,” according to Markus Kohz, the project’s initiator, in a statement to the Evangelischer Pressedienst. The printing block itself was a dozen computer-machined wooden printing blocks.” To transfer the ink onto the paper, a car was driven over the blocks, pressing the ink into large rolls of paper affixed to the structure.
Notably, the Gutenberg Bible was the first major book to be printed using mass-produced metal movable type. It was created in Mainz in the 1450’s and of the nearly 160 copies that were produced, only two dozen remain i their entirey. It is often regarded as the rarest and most expensive book in the world and hasn’t come up for sale at auction in more than 50 years.
The printing process for the behemoth bible page, which took nearly three hours from inking to completion, wasn’t flawless, however. Kohz noted that the page “has some printing errors because the car missed a small spot while driving over the blocks.” Undeterred, the team produced a second page the following day with the help of festival attendees, who “enthusiastically ran over the printing block and helped to transfer ink onto the huge sheet.”
Presently, the page is being showcased in the choir of Mainz Cathedral, where it will remain on display until August 31 as part of the city’s cultural summer program.
Welcome to episode 61 of the Knight and Rose podcast! In this episode, Wintery Knight and Desert Rose discuss a new graphic novel co-authored by J. Warner Wallace and his son Jimmy. If you like this episode, please subscribe to the podcast, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We would appreciate it if you left us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Podcast description:
Christian apologists Wintery Knight and Desert Rose discuss apologetics, policy, culture, relationships, and more. Each episode equips you with evidence you can use to boldly engage anyone, anywhere. We train our listeners to become Christian secret agents. Action and adventure guaranteed. 30-45 minutes per episode. New episode every week.
Episode summary:
Wintery Knight and Desert Rose welcome J. Warner Wallace to discuss his new graphic novel, co-authored with his son Jimmy, entitled “Case Files: Murder and Meaning“. The book tells the story of police detectives trying to catch a dangerous serial killer. We discuss how the story raises questions about human value, morality, identity, and meaning – creating an opportunity for deeper conversations with a wider audience.
Outline and transcript
Here is a transcript of the show provided by TurboScribe AI. TurboScribe AI allows you to translate the transcript into many, many different languages. You can also export the transcript into many different formats, with optional timestamps.
Episode 61:
Speaker biographies
J. Warner Wallace is a Dateline featured cold-case homicide detective, popular national speaker and best-selling author. He continues to consult on cold-case investigations while serving as a Senior Fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He is also an adjunct professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology (Biola University), Gateway Seminary, and Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a faculty member at Summit Ministries. J. Warner became a Christ-follower at the age of thirty-five after investigating the claims of the New Testament gospels using his skill set as a detective.
Wintery Knight is a black legal immigrant. He is a senior software engineer by day, and an amateur Christian apologist by night. He has been blogging at winteryknight.com since January of 2009, covering news, policy and Christian worldview issues.
Desert Rose did her undergraduate degree in public policy, and then worked for a conservative Washington lobbyist organization. She also has a graduate degree from a prestigious evangelical seminary. She is active in Christian apologetics as a speaker, author, and teacher.
Gender insanity may be fading, but Christians shouldn’t lean too much into “vibe shifts”
With the second coming of Donald Trump, the phrase “vibe shift” has become a staple of current cultural commentary. The expression captures not so much the shift in the kind of policies that the Trump administration will implement as a shift in the ethos of America. The hectoring scolds of the progressive left have dominated public rhetoric for years. Now suddenly conservatives once despised as either stupid, evil, or both are starting to feel that this age might belong to them.
As a cultural conservative, I find much to welcome here. And as somebody who has spent much time speaking about, and talking to, the victims of transgender ideology, I rejoice that the political tide might finally be turning. Perhaps gender sanity is not the last vestige of a bygone era but the vanguard of a world about to be born. If the vibe shift carries society toward laws that protect innocent children from the hormonal and genital mutilation demanded by the political tastes of their parents’ generation, that is surely a matter for rejoicing.
And yet vibe shifts bring their own problems. First, they are frequently ephemeral. I remember the U.K. election of 1997 that swept the tired Tory government of John Major out of office and brought Tony Blair and his “new” Labour Party into power. And so began the era of “Cool Britannia,” a vibe shift that seemed to offer hope and a new start to the nation. Yet Blair’s time in office was ultimately marked by wars on the international stage and discontent at home. “Cool Britannia” was a catchy phrase of more relevance to the pop music of the time—think groups like Oasis and Blur—than to politics.
The second problem with vibe shifts is of more moral significance. Such moments in society can grip the imagination in such a way that otherwise sane, moderate, and thoughtful people can end up saying and doing thoughtless, damaging, and even vicious things. For example, one could say 2020 involved a vibe shift. Suddenly everything was about racism. The terminology of critical race theory burst out of the law school seminar room and onto the Twitter accounts of countless people who had never read a word of CRT’s foundational texts. All at once, anyone who failed to post the appropriate symbol on their social media accounts or who (perish the thought) dared to question the omnipresence of racism could find themselves accused of it. Those not committed to anti-racist orthodoxy and its online liturgies risked public excoriation.
As with all things driven more by taste than by truth, vibes shift all the time. We can be thankful to find ourselves at a cultural moment when it’s possible to pass laws curtailing progressive insanity on, for example, the trans issue. And we should capitalize on the openness to discussing religion that has emerged among leading intellectual and cultural figures. But we must ensure that our thinking is not beholden to vibes and that our rhetoric and our actions are not shaped by the same. That would make us no more than the puppets of popular taste. Worse still, it could turn us from responsible agents into a mindless mob.
An obvious Biblical example of a vibe shift should be a warning to us. Between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, Jerusalem experienced a dramatic transformation in the popular attitude to Christ. The crowd heralded Him as the coming King when He entered the city on a donkey. Days later the mob called for His crucifixion even when offered a chance to have Him released by the Roman governor. My suspicion is that a significant number of the adoring crowd became the murderous mob. Today we call that a vibe shift. And divorced from, and unregulated by, any objective criteria, it carried all before it.
This is why Christians need to be very careful at this time. Our morality is not the function of a vibe. Our truths are not the expression of cultural taste. We must heed Paul’s call to meditate upon things that are above. Those heavenly realities are as true today as they were when President Biden was in charge or, indeed, when Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Only then can we act with discernment and with Christian fortitude, wisdom, and love in the context God has placed us.
—Carl R. Trueman is a professor at Grove City College and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
—Psalm 119:130
Thanks to our splendid Bible societies and to other effective agencies for the dissemination of the Word, there are today many millions of people who hold “right opinions,” probably more than ever before in the history of the Church. Yet I wonder if there was ever a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb.
Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the Church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict meaning of that term. But exposition may be carried on in such a way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts. POG009
Lord, as I study Your Word may I not merely read the words on the page but personally experience their truths, that I may know You and genuinely delight in Your presence. Amen.
Tozer, A. W., & Eggert, R. (2015). Tozer on the almighty god: a 365-day devotional. Moody Publishers.
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
A key to living above your circumstances is leaning on the faithfulness of Christ while refusing to be caught up in the instability of your surroundings. Paul used the analogy of a runner to explain how you are to respond to life’s circumstances (1 Cor. 9:24–26).
You are to fix your gaze on the finish line and race with all your might toward that goal. Once God places a goal in your heart, never give up. Instead, move toward it with swiftness and courage.
Paul’s goal was to take the gospel message to Asia. Three completed missionary journeys proved he had a plan and purpose. Personal testimonies bear witness he achieved his goal, but not without cost. No one completes the race of life without facing many trials and tribulations.
Paul had a wonderful system for bypassing negative thinking and potential defeat. He looked beyond his circumstances to the sovereignty of God. He focused on the positive results of his ministry, not the personal pain.
In the end, the trials of Paul matured and strengthened his spiritual walk. Even though you are hard-pressed on every side, Jesus will bring light to all you are facing. Trust Him, and you will see His victory.
Dear God, fix my gaze on the finish line. Help me race with all my might toward the goal. I rebuke negative thinking and potential defeat. I will finish my journey in victory.1
1 Stanley, C. F. (1999). On holy ground (p. 377). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
How many times have you entered an art gallery and had to peer at the small explanation at the side of a painting or sculpture before you knew what it was trying to convey?
How do you know whether a piece of art is good or bad? One test is whether you understand what it is trying to say, or when its meaning if any has to be explained. The purpose of art is to communicate and if a piece of art necessitates written explanation it has failed to communicate.
Of course repeated viewings of great works of art reveal fresh insights and we can gain understanding by reading knowledgeable art critics. That is because these works are complex and rich in meaning. Many examples of modern art require explanation because they are sterile in that they are devoid of meaning except whatever the viewer wishes to impose.
An Exhibition of Invisible Art
One European art collector paid $1.2million for a receipt written by the French artist Yves Klein to prove the ownership of one of his ‘invisible art’ pieces. In its auction catalogue Sotheby’s described the empty space as ‘the apotheosis of Klein’s lifelong quest to create an artwork which was “a direct and immediate perception – assimilation without any effect, any trick, or any deception”. In other words, he was aiming to directly transmit the power of painting – its sensibility – without depending on the painting-artifact to act as a medium.’ Sometimes even the explanation doesn’t explain.
Even when the art work is figurative it has to have a distortion within it to be accepted by our avant-garde cultural trendsetters.
Ceramic sculpture by ‘uber talented’ Johnson Tsang
The art any society produces is a reflection of the values of the society itself. Our art has become sterile because at its core it has, like our society, become anti-God. Acclaimed art today is anti-human and anti-nature, it has to reject the beauty at the core of creation because it has rejected the Creator.
The objectively beautiful, whether that be a building, a painting or a flower arrangement, points to God. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but is not purely subjective, every individual can recognise and has a standard of beauty even although that standard may differ. Beautiful works of art explain themselves. Even an unthinking unbeliever is moved on entering Chartres Cathedral and has an understanding of what it means, why it is there, and more importantly their own place in this sacred world they have entered. Great art communicates.
Even when good art portrays something which is not conventionally beautiful it can do so in such a way as to reveal the inner beauty. Instead of distorting and warping the beautiful, good art reveals the hidden beauty.
Our Western culture was built upon an understanding of God and contained a sense of wonder at what he had created. Human beings were known to be made in his image and the creation itself was seen as coming straight from the hand of God who ‘saw all that he had made, and it was very good’ (Genesis 3:1).
Every culture produces fruit, whether that is its laws, traditions, social structures or its art. A good, healthy, thriving culture produces good fruit, a faltering, lost and declining culture produces poor fruit. Art will never flourish again in the West until as a culture we return to reality and accept God.
“And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.” 1 Kings 17:16
suggested further reading: 1 Peter 5:6–11
If God saves us, it will be a trying matter. All the way to heaven, we shall only get there by the skin of our teeth. We shall not go to heaven sailing along with sails swelling in the breeze, like sea birds with their fair white wings, but we shall proceed with sails torn to ribbons, with masts creaking, and the ship’s pumps at work both by night and day. We shall reach the city at the shutting of the gate, but not an hour before. O believer, thy Lord will bring thee safe to the end of thy pilgrimage; but mark, thou wilt never have one particle of strength to waste in wantonness upon the road. There will be enough to get thee up the hill Difficulty, but only enough then by climbing on your hands and knees. You will have strength enough to fight Apollyon, but when the battle is over your arm will have no strength remaining. Your trials will be so many, that if you had only one trial more, it would be like the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. But, nevertheless, though God’s love should thus try you all the journey through, your faith will bear the trying, for while God dashes you down to the earth with one hand in providence, he will lift you up with the other in grace. You will have consolation and affliction weighed out in equal degree, ounce for ounce, and grain for grain; you will be like the Israelite in the wilderness, if you gather much manna, you will have nothing over; while blessed be God, if you gather little you shall have no lack. You shall have daily grace for daily trials.
for meditation: The Christian does not need to go looking for problems—they are as fundamental to the Christian faith as any major doctrine (Acts 14:22); but the Christian receives from God the ability to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).
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