tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63355412024-03-18T14:40:25.373-07:00Faith and Freedom DailyGary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comBlogger3679125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-66150618808944554132024-03-18T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T05:00:00.141-07:00Harris Lectures Conservatives After Abortion Clinic Visit--But "Reproductive Health Care" Fools No One<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://afn.net/media/sfhno3dk/abortiontools.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://afn.net/media/sfhno3dk/abortiontools.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" width="640" /></a></div><br />In her visit to an abortion clinic last Thursday---the first ever by a sitting US president or vice president--, Vice President Kamala Harris had a few choice words for the baby-saving pro-life side. At the same time, the national media predictably chose to fawn over the Leftist Democrat. <p></p><p>But their words fooled no one. Everyone knows "reproductive health care" means killing unwanted unborn babies.</p><p>Since Old Testament times, people have been disposing of unwanted children---born and unborn, and God has been condemning the act.</p><p>Now, in the age of secular humanism and so-called "progressivism," we have found a way to veil the truth. To make the practice a little more normal, even noble, simply call it something else, like "women's health care."</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">Kamala the Trailblazer</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/03/Kamala-Harris-Visits-Abortion-Clinic-640x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/03/Kamala-Harris-Visits-Abortion-Clinic-640x480.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Harris took the Biden/Harris presidential campaign to Minneapolis, where she <a href="https://afn.net/pro-life/2024/03/15/harris-lectures-her-enemies-after-abortion-clinic-visit-but-reproductive-health-care-not-fooling-anyone/" target="_blank">toured</a> a Planned Parenthood abortuary before making remarks to reporters.</div><p>This is the first visit to an abortion shop by a sitting president or vice president in the history of our nation.</p><p>“In states around our country,” she said, “extremists have proposed and passed laws that have denied women access to reproductive health care.”</p><p>That accusation was an Orwellian-like comment since “extremists” refer to abortion opponents who know an abortion – “reproductive health care” – ends a human life that was growing in the mother’s womb.</p><p>Harris went on to complain that state laws have forced abortion clinics to close their doors, which is preventing women from addressing their “health needs,” referring to a fetus-terminating abortion.</p><p>Reacting to the visit, pro-life activist Christina Bennett summed up the views of many pro-life Americans in a “Washington Watch” interview.</p><p>“I would ask her, does 60 million dead babies count as a crisis? Does 20 million dead African-American children, since Roe v Wade in 1973, count as a crisis?” asked Bennett, who is black and is alive today because her mother didn’t go through with an abortion.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The media is still slobbering over the "historic" visit.</h3><p><a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jorge-bonilla/2024/03/14/regime-media-all-nbc-tout-vp-harris-planned-parenthood-visit" target="_blank">Media Research Council</a> researched how the "regime media," what they now call the media, reported the visit. </p><p></p><blockquote><p>With the notable exception of NBC Nightly News, the evening network newscasts fell over themselves to promote the historic nature of Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic- the first of its kind by a sitting president or vice president. The exuberance at the executive cosigning of the continued slaughter of the unborn was quite palpable.</p><p>Of these, the most exuberant is, as expected, ABC. Here’s a segment from correspondent Rachel Scott’s report- a master class in Biden apple-polishing:</p></blockquote><p></p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.mrctv.org/embed/586107" title="MRC TV video player" width="640"></iframe></p><p>National Public Radio (NPR) <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1238420757/harris-visits-abortion-clinic-minnesota" target="_blank">reported</a>, "Harris said she made the visit to draw attention to the 'very serious health crisis' facing women who live in states that placed new restrictions on abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022."</p><p>"We who have the ability to have a bouquet of microphones in front of us, as I do — I take on, then, the responsibility of uplifting these stories," Harris told reporters.</p><p>Inside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Saint Paul, Harris met with Dr. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood North Central States. The clinic was open during her visit, but reporters were kept in the lobby.</p><p>"I am a proud abortion provider," Traxler told reporters after the tour, calling the vice president's visit a "historic moment."</p><p>"Since Roe was overturned, I've cared for patients from everywhere," Traxler said, noting women have come from states as far away as Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Missouri, Florida and Wyoming.</p><p>Afterward, Harris emphasized to reporters that the facility provides health care for women. "It is absolutely about health care and reproductive health care. So everyone get ready for the language: 'uterus,'" Harris said. "That part of the body needs a lot of medical care from time to time."</p><p>Actually, it's more about the upcoming election than it is about a "uterus."</p><p>Democrats see abortion as a winning issue in the November election.</p><p>Harris’ stop in Minnesota is the latest in a <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/14/kamala-harris-becomes-first-vice-president-to-visit-abortion-clinic/" target="_blank">series</a> of events she has had around the country, highlighting abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and painting pro-life Americans as “extremists.”</p><p>The White House announced Harris’s “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour" in December, and Harris has since visited Wisconsin, California, Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What does the Bible <a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/abortion-Bible.html" target="_blank">say</a> about abortion?</h3><p></p><blockquote><p>Jeremiah 1:5 tells us that God knows us before He forms us in the womb. Psalm 139:13–16 speaks of God’s active role in our creation and formation in the womb. Exodus 21:22–25 prescribes the same penalty—death—for someone who causes the death of a baby in the womb as for someone who commits murder. This law and its punishment clearly indicate that God considers a baby in the womb to be just as much a human being as a full-grown adult. For the Christian, abortion is not a matter of a woman’s right to choose to have a baby. The baby is already present and living. Abortion is a matter of the life or death of a human being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27; 9:6).</p><p>What does the Bible say about abortion? Simply put, abortion is murder. It is the killing of a human being created in the image of God.</p><p>A common argument against the Christian stance on abortion is “What about cases of rape and/or incest?” As emotionally difficult as it would be to face a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, is the murder of a baby the solution? Two wrongs do not make a right. Intentionally killing the unborn child is not the answer. Also, keep in mind that having an abortion is itself a traumatic experience. It seems nonsensical to add an additional trauma to the woman. Too, abortion can be a means of rapists covering up their crimes. For example, if a minor is molested and becomes pregnant and then is taken to have an abortion, the molestation could continue without penalty. Abortion will never erase the pain of rape or incest, but it very well may add to it.</p><p>A child who is conceived through rape or incest is made in the image of God the same as any other human. That child’s life should be protected just as much as the life of any other human being. The circumstances of conception never determine the worth of a person or that person’s future.</p><p> The baby in this situation is completely innocent and should not be punished for the evil act of his or her father. Depending on the situation, the mother might choose to raise the child. If she does not already have a community of support, she can turn to many organizations and local churches prepared to walk alongside her. Or she might place the child for adoption. There are many families, some unable to have children on their own, who stand ready to receive and love a child from any background.</p><p>It’s also important to keep in mind that abortions due to rape or incest account for a very small percentage of total abortions: only 1 percent of abortions can be traced to cases of rape or incest (Torres and Forrest, cited by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health and the Alan Guttmacher Institute in An Overview of Abortion in the United States.</p><p>The overwhelming majority of abortions performed today involve women who simply do not want to have a baby. Just 2 percent of abortions are for the reason of rape, incest, or the mother’s life being at risk. Even in these more difficult 2 percent of instances, abortion should never be the first option. The life of a human being in the womb is worth every effort to preserve.</p></blockquote><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>For those who have had an abortion, remember that the sin of abortion is no less forgivable than any other sin. Through faith in Christ, all sins can be forgiven (John 3:16; Romans 8:1; Colossians 1:14).</p><p>A woman who has had an abortion, a man who has encouraged an abortion, and a doctor who has performed an abortion—all can be forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-23694252784636325922024-03-15T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-15T05:00:00.263-07:00Evangelical Organizations Now Considered "Hate" Groups<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://afn.net/media/z4kbfkll/jpmorganchase.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://afn.net/media/z4kbfkll/jpmorganchase.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" width="640" /></a></div><br />It’s not a new tactic when left-wing political groups call their right-wing enemies hate-filled and harmful, but conservative groups are now learning the Biden administration concluded they are so dangerous their bank accounts should be shuttered.<p></p><p>That's right. Close their bank accounts. Put them out of business.</p><p>So, who are the so-called "hate groups," and which banks?</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>The 38-page report titled "<a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bankrolling-bigotry-3.pdf" target="_blank">Bankrolling Bigotry</a>" begins with this summary:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Hatred is surging across the United States. Figures released by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) suggest that the number of hate groups rose steadily between 2014 and 2018, including a 55% growth in the number of white nationalist groups active between 2017 and 2019.</p><p>In 2018 the FBI announced that hate crimes were at the highest volume they had been for 16 years.</p><p>And recent analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies identifies white supremacists as the most significant terror threat facing the US.</p><p>This matches global trends where white supremacist terrorism has spiked by 320%, in part buoyed by a broad morass of hate against communities including Jews, Muslims, immigrants, people of color, people with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and others (LGBTQ+) community.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>The “Bankrolling Bigotry” report was created by a London-based think tank, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue states its mission is to reverse “extremism” and “disinformation.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who are these "white supremacist" "hate" groups?</h3><p>To name a <a href="https://afn.net/politics-govt/2024/03/13/new-revelation-from-house-subcommittee-biden-admin-urged-nation-s-banks-to-end-business-with-political-enemies/" target="_blank">few</a>, they are Liberty Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom, Pacific Justice Institute, FAIR, Family Research Council, MassResistance, and the Center for Immigration Studies.</p><p>These and others like them are included in the "evil" list. All biblically sound organizations, doing great work for the Lord, and well known to biblical Christians. </p><p>All those groups and many others are cited in the “Bankrolling Bigotry” report. That call to action, published in 2020, calls for ending the groups’ access to financial services, dropping their IRS non-profit status, and blocking their online fund-raising capability because their views are considered harmful to society. </p><p>For its report, the Institute states it defined "hate" as "beliefs or practices that result in attacking, maligning, delegitimizing or excluding an entire class of people based on immutable characteristics, including their ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability." </p><p>Sexual behavior is not an immutable characteristic.</p><p>To accumulate its list of groups, 73 in all, the Institute relied heavily on the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center. That Alabama-based group, which fought Jim Crow laws in the 1960s, is credited with inventing the “hate group” label for the Klan and Neo-Nazi groups scattered around the country. More recently, the SPLC began adding right-leaning groups such as ADF and AFA to its "hate list," too. </p><p>You can find the entire list of "evil" groups on page 9 of the <a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bankrolling-bigotry-3.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>.</p><p>Note that Christian organizations are included with extremist groups.</p><p>The “Bankrolling Bigotry” report follows a similar pattern. Under the label “Anti-LGBTQ+,” for example, ADF, Liberty Counsel, FRC, and AFA are listed with Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church.</p><p>The report also makes no distinction between Westboro and groups such as AFA and FRC, whose views reflect Orthodox Christianity. The report ominously concludes that all "anti-LGBTQ" groups are "masked behind the banner of Christian and evangelical activism."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How did this become public knowledge? Who asked the banks to shut down the accounts?</h3><p><a href="https://afn.net/" target="_blank">American Family Association</a> did the research. Here's what they found:</p><blockquote><p>With a copy of the “Bankrolling Bigotry” report in hand, a financial crimes agency at the U.S. Treasury Department sent the report in 2021 to top banking executives at major U.S. banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank, and JP Morgan Chase. </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>The secretive plan by the Biden administration to punish its political enemies now dates back three years ago. It was only made public last week when Treasury Department documents were released by the appropriately-named House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>The government culprit behind the bank lobbying is a Treasury agency called the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. That agency was also named by the House weaponization subcommittee, which learned FinCEN used the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to ask banks to filter customer transactions for words such as “MAGA” and “Trump,” and to flag purchases at stores known for gun sales such as Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop.</p><p>On his “Today’s Issues” show this week, AFA president Tim Wildmon summarized the issue for the radio audience. “The Treasury Department,” Wildmon said, “puts out a memo to banks all across America, 'Hey, these are groups you need to avoid doing business with because they're hate groups.'”</p><p>The public now knows, Wildmon added, that a “far-left” special interest group defined what “hate” means and then that definition was willingly adopted by our own federal government to target its political enemies. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>Now you know.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://afn.net/media/4gdntsvs/flagfracture.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://afn.net/media/4gdntsvs/flagfracture.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>This reminds us of the wise, inspired words of the Prophet Isaiah many years ago:</div><blockquote><p>Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!</p></blockquote><p>When there is no "king," everyone does what is right in their own eyes, creating a culture of lawlessness.</p><p>Then, a dictator will arise from the chaos, and all will become servants of the government.</p><p>We are witnessing steps being taken toward both. </p><p>Star Parker <a href="https://afn.net/opinion/star-parker/2024/03/14/this-is-not-the-soviet-union-mr-biden/" target="_blank">said</a> yesterday, "In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed."</p><p>She continued, "It marked the end of an experiment that lasted almost a century testing the premise that godless secularization, turning control of people's lives over to other people to rule them, who decide what others need and how they should live and conduct their lives, is the answer for mankind."</p><p>"In the free world, the collapse of the Soviet Union was a cause for celebration. In the USA, it was widely viewed as a victory of the American way of life – a free nation under God."</p><p>"But let's not get confused between things and the names we give them."</p><p>"Our own country – despite the words in our founding documents about freedom and God – has been on a path adopting the same premises about human reality that led to the collapse of the communist world. This was evident in President Joe Biden's message to the nation last week in his State of the Union address," she added.</p><p>She concludes, "The truth really is..... It's about politicians who love power, buying it with gifts given with other people's money. Harsh to say, but this is reality."</p><p>She's right.</p><p>According to Gallup, only 19% of Americans are satisfied with the country's direction.</p><p>Most Americans feel something is wrong. We need leadership to take us back to freedom and God.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-36263157888946606982024-03-14T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-14T05:00:00.168-07:00Tik Tok: To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Question<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/03/TDS_TikTokVote-1200x650.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="1200" height="347" src="https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/03/TDS_TikTokVote-1200x650.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to pass bipartisan legislation on the Chinese-owned app TikTok.<p></p><p>The legislation passed in a 352-65 vote, with the help of 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats. Fifteen Republicans and 50 Democrats voted against the legislation. One lawmaker voted “present.”</p><p>However, there are differences of opinion among conservatives.</p><p>Those who oppose essentially recreating TikTok argue that if the Senate passes the bill as the House has, it will significantly impact the 7 million small businesses that use it for advertising and the 170 million individual users.</p><p>Those who support essentially shutting down the app by restructuring the company argue that it is harvesting personal information on Americans and feeding that info directly back to the Chinese Communist Party.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">To be.</h3><p>House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/03/13/breaking-tiktok-bill-passes-in-house-with-bipartisan-support/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=ODI0LU1IVC0zMDQAAAGR12BqVjpUyMC38xA_MlUqpnFdqS_2Bp8Mak5bDJAlmHR52DS5Y-JRllDqdB7myLgxcEmPotUs2dp1OBtKTAJll3yjUpMI2Y3O863B3ZEmU4TT9c8" target="_blank">said</a> in an "X" post, “Communist China is America’s largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America’s economy and security.” </p><p>He also said, “Apps like TikTok allow the Chinese Communist Party to push harmful content to our youth and engage in malign activities, such as harvesting the location, purchasing habits, contacts, and sensitive data of Americans.”</p><p>He continued: “Today’s bipartisan vote to pass The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act demonstrates Congress’ opposition to Communist China’s attempts to spy on and manipulate Americans and signals our resolve to deter our enemies. I urge the Senate to pass this bill and send it to the President so he can sign the bill into law.”</p><p>Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) says, “The platform should not be in jeopardy. This should be an easy choice for TikTok, which is a subsidiary of ByteDance, which is closely linked and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.” </p><p>Pfluger said, “And you can see right there that the dangers that lay with a company that is beholden to a government that is demonstrating on a daily basis their willingness to undermine American interest both at home and abroad, not just with the data, not just with this particular platform, but in many different areas,” </p><p>"So, the choice is pretty clear for TikTok," Pfluger adds, "that they either divest from their parent company, ByteDance, which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, or they won’t be allowed in the United States."</p><p>House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) said, “TikTok is a CCP spy app. Plain and simple. House Republicans just passed a nonpartisan bill protecting Americans’ data by sending a clear message: TikTok must sever ties with the CCP or lose its access to American users.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Republicans are divided over how they should deal with TikTok</h3><p>The vote on the TikTok bill was <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/13/house-overwhelmingly-passes-bill-to-ban-tiktok-in-u-s/" target="_blank">controversial</a> for Republicans and represented a split between those who were concerned about the national security implications of allowing a Chinese-owned application to be used by millions of Americans and those who were concerned that the app’s ban may empower big tech companies such as Google and Facebook.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Not to be.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/fa3e2aea-a913-456e-9722-0126fec83767/biden-phone-file-gty-ml-240212_1707757083259_hpMain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="427" src="https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/fa3e2aea-a913-456e-9722-0126fec83767/biden-phone-file-gty-ml-240212_1707757083259_hpMain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>I found it interesting that President Joe Biden expressed his support for the legislation, telling reporters on Friday, “If they pass it, I’ll sign it.”</div><p>However, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-campaign-joins-tiktok-despite-administrations-past-security/story?id=107160944" target="_blank">ABC News</a> reported that Biden’s presidential campaign is on TikTok and shared its first video there on Feb. 11.</p><p>He is beside himself because he got over 5 million views.</p><p>Interestingly, the president signed a law in 2022 banning TikTok from federal government devices -- with officials later citing "ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people's security and privacy" -- and his administration last year called for TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company or risk getting banned in the U.S.</p><p>Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., issued a joint statement about the House passing the bill. Warner and Rubio are the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.</p><p>“We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok – a platform with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party,” the senators said in a statement shared on X. “We were encouraged by today’s strong bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives, and look forward to working together to get this bill passed through the Senate and signed into law.”</p><p>Trump, Sen. Rand Paul, and a few others are less convinced that this is the right path to success. </p><p>Former President Donald Trump, who sought to ban the app in 2020, said in a March 7 <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112058087970558736" target="_blank">post</a> on Truth Social that “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business.”</p><p>“I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better,” Trump said. “They are a true Enemy of the People!”</p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="truthsocial-embed" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112058087970558736/embed" style="border: 0; max-width: 100%;" width="600"></iframe><script async="async" src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js"></script></p><p>During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, the former president was asked if he believes the app is a national security threat.</p><p>“I do believe that. I do believe it and we have to very much go into privacy and make sure that we are protecting the American people’s privacy and data rights,” Trump said. “And I agree, but you know, we also have that problem with other—you have that problem with Facebook and lots of other companies too.”</p><p>“I mean, they get the information. They get plenty of information and they deal with China, and they’ll do whatever China wants,” the former president said.</p><p>While the bill garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, its future is uncertain in the Senate, where Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has opposed banning the app.</p><p>“Reactionaries who want to ban TikTok claim the data can’t be secured because the ‘algorithm’ is in China. Not true,” Paul said in a two-part thread posted to X on Wednesday morning ahead of the House vote. “The truth is the Algorithm runs in the U.S. in Oracle Cloud with their review of the code. (NOT in China). Maybe we should examine the facts before committing violations of the 1st and 5th amendments.”</p><p>“They want to ban TikTok because it’s ‘owned by China,’” Paul said. “Not true.”</p><p>The Kentucky Republican added: "60% of the company is owned by US and international investors. 20% is owned by the company founders. 20% is owned by company employees, including over 7,000 Americans. The CEO of TikTok is from Singapore, not China. So ask yourself why they keep repeating this lie to scare you?</p><p>Now you know. The question is, should the US Congress essentially shut TikTok down or not?</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>I personally think all social media should be restructured. The American-based social media has too much unchecked power. There is virtually no accountability for Zuckerberg and the other social media tycoons.</p><p>They control what America sees and what we don't see and hear. They have been given a "carve out" from the beginning that exempts them from being sued for content because they "are not content creators."</p><p>Yet they have discovered how to influence America with their message by what they allow on their platforms and what they do not allow on them. </p><p>As for TikTok, I think it's destructive to kids who live on the app. The examples are legion.</p><p>I think every effort must be made to separate and protect ourselves from the Chinese Communist Party. They are an enemy. Their endgame is world power and domination. Any means to achieve that end is justified.</p><p>I believe our leadership should do what our Founders did when they were divided over the content of our Constitution: Pray.</p><p>I'm reminded of God's instruction: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-87179862960526084162024-03-13T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-13T05:00:00.263-07:00Washington State's New "Bias Incident Hotline" To Be Managed By State's A/G<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/jay-inslee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="628" height="402" src="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/jay-inslee.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Washington State's Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA) is expected to sign Substitute Senate Bill 5427, a controversial piece of legislation that the Left describes as "aimed at combating hate crimes and bias incidents in Washington state."<p></p><p>However, the bill has sparked a heated debate over the potential implications of criminalizing free speech.</p><p>The bill, which passed through the Washington state legislature, seeks to create a “bias incident hotline” under the management of the State Attorney General’s Office.</p><p>The stated intention is to support victims of hate crimes and track bias incidents.</p><p>However, clear-thinking conservatives are sounding the alarm---but they are not the majority in the State Legislature.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>According to the <a href="https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/5427-S%20SBR%20FBR%2024.pdf?q=20240311031125" target="_blank">bill</a>: </p><blockquote><p>“The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) must oversee hate crimes and bias incidents hotline (hotline) staffed during business hours, dedicated to assisting people who have been targeted or affected by hate crimes and bias incidents. The hotline must: provide appropriate victim-centered, culturally competent, and trauma-informed information and referral; be as accessible to as many residents of Washington as is practical."</p></blockquote><p>And it <a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/03/democrat-governor-set-criminalize-free-speech-washington-state/" target="_blank">says</a>, “Bias incident means a person’s hostile expression of animus toward another person, relating to the other person’s actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability. A bias incident is deemed to be non-criminal in nature and does not include expressions of support for or opposition to a government’s policies or actions protected under free speech all within appropriations, regardless of language proficiency."</p><p>If this is beginning to feel a little creepy, it's because <i>it is</i> creepy.</p><p>Most Americans assume people spying on one another and reporting what they see their neighbors or family members doing that they disagree with is something that happens in communist countries or movies.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.libertynation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-1240160775-Jay-Inslee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="427" src="https://www.libertynation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-1240160775-Jay-Inslee.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="https://www.libertynation.com/washington-governor-jay-inslee-poised-to-kill-free-speech/" target="_blank">Liberty Nation</a> describes it like this: "Washington Governor Jay Inslee Poised to Kill Free Speech"</p><p>"Residents of the Evergreen State will soon be able to report their neighbors for expressing 'bias.'”</p><p>Could it be that if you choose to put a US flag on your house this Fourth of July, rather than a "Pride" flag, you could be guilty of expressing hate or at least "bias" toward the LGBTQ activist or ally next door?</p><p>The answer is obvious.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Liberty Nation explains the obvious.</h3><p></p><blockquote><p>To be clear, this isn’t merely about going after people who have allegedly committed physical “hate crimes.” It also targets reported instances of “a person’s hostile expression of animus toward another person, relating to the other person’s actual or perceived characteristics…” Literally, the hotline gives people a way of informing on others supposedly guilty of thought crimes – or, perhaps, speech crimes.</p><p>The bill, as passed, does make it clear that these “bias incidents” do not include “expressions of opposition or support for the actions or policies of a foreign or domestic government protected under free speech.” So, sure, one is still free to criticize an elected official, but express any opinion someone else decides is aimed at an individual because of that person’s “actual or perceived characteristics” and one could find oneself in the AG’s crosshairs.</p><p>It is easy to see, then, that any expression of opposition to, say, transgender ideology, would get someone reported to the hotline. Free speech – at least in the three Washington counties to which this program will initially be rolled out – appears under threat. If one cannot say anything that another person of a different race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation finds offensive in some way without being reported to the attorney general’s office, then one no longer enjoys the constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech.</p><p>Supporters of the bill might argue that this isn’t the US Congress making a law that restricts free speech, so it can’t be unconstitutional. The Washington Constitution, however, also protects free speech. Article I, Section 5: “Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right."</p></blockquote><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">WA. State Republican legislators also warn of the dangers of this bill.</h3><p>Unfortunately, the Republicans in the state legislature are the minority. </p><p>Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen (R-Puyallup) succinctly pointed out the ominous flaw in this bill. “I think it’s difficult to put things into law that look at the intent of people rather than the actions that they take,” she said. Rep. Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) agrees, saying: “If a crime is a crime, if someone has been assaulted, if the property has been damaged, then the proper recourse is to contact law enforcement and pursue a remedy, pursue justice in that way.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">A very destructive path.</h3><p>Liberty says this: </p><blockquote><p>The potential scope of abuse with this new hotline is vast – especially since any identifying personal information provided to the hotline is “confidential and exempt from public inspection, copying, or disclosure.” Neither is that information to be included in any written reports. That means if anyone wanted to go after someone whose political opinions they don’t like, they could, conceivably, fabricate a “hate crime” or “bias incident” out of nothing. In fact, this new law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025, exempts so much information from public disclosure that there will be no accountability at all to the people of the Evergreen State. After all, faking hate crimes has become common practice for the progressive left.</p></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><blockquote><p>When any elected (or appointed) official says that restricting free speech is necessary in order to increase public safety, it is crucial for rational people to think about how far such restrictions will go. “Public safety” and “public health emergency” are deliberately vague terms that can be used to justify any violation of individual rights. Perhaps free speech isn't a priority for them after all.</p></blockquote><p>2 Corinthians 3:17: <b><i>"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty."</i></b></p><p>As our nation turns more and more away from God, we will continue to see our Freedoms---our Liberty diminish.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-67548898878214156152024-03-12T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-12T05:00:00.135-07:00Anti-Semitism Thriving on College Campuses <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MixCollage-07-Mar-2024-03-47-PM-7080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="736" height="448" src="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MixCollage-07-Mar-2024-03-47-PM-7080.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />It was October 10, three days after Hamas had murdered 1,200 Israelis and abducted hundreds more, and Jewish students at Middlebury College were trying to organize a vigil for the victims. They reached out to Middlebury’s dean of students, Derek Doucet, with a draft poster promoting the event, which they invited administrators at the elite liberal arts school to attend.<p></p><p>"Stand in Solidarity with the Jewish People," the poster read. "This will be an opportunity to honor the innocent lives lost in the tragic events that have struck Israel in the past days."</p><p>It didn’t go over well.</p><p>Here's the rest of the story.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>In an email to students reviewed by the <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/middlebury-students-tried-to-host-a-vigil-for-victims-of-oct-7-attack-administrators-told-them-to-remove-the-word-jewish/" target="_blank">Washington Free Beacon</a>, Doucet, who oversees student activities, pushed to rename the vigil and remove references to Judaism to make it "as inclusive as possible."</p><p>"Some suggestions that might help are stating that this gathering is to honor ‘all the innocent lives lost,’" Doucet wrote, including a reference to the "tragedies that have struck Israel and Gaza." He added that calls for solidarity with Jews could trigger "unhelpful reactions."</p><p>"I recognize and deeply respect that there has to be a place for purely Jewish grief and sorrow," Doucet said, "and yet I wonder if … such a public gathering in such a charged moment might be more inclusive with edits such as these."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Oh, the hypocrisy.</h3><p>The need to include all groups—in a vigil mourning the losses of one—was selective and short-lived. Less than a month later, Doucet’s office approved a "<a href="https://www.middlebury.edu/events/event/vigil-palestine" target="_blank">Vigil for Palestine</a>" hosted by the Muslim Students Association that began with an Islamic prayer and featured remarks from the school’s vice president of equity and inclusion, Khuram Hussain, who did not attend the Jewish vigil.</p><p>"Standing in solidarity,"--"Lighting the Path," the Muslim student group wrote in an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzT-tjxO3OU/?igsh=MWR6Y3Z6cGowdzZ0dg%3D%3D" target="_blank">Instagram</a> post promoting the event. "Together, we honor Palestine."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.middlebury.edu/events/sites/www.middlebury.edu.events/files/styles/large/public/event_photos/Vigil%20for%20Palestine.jpg.png?itok=LuDNuoqH" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="371" height="640" src="https://www.middlebury.edu/events/sites/www.middlebury.edu.events/files/styles/large/public/event_photos/Vigil%20for%20Palestine.jpg.png?itok=LuDNuoqH" width="495" /></a></div><p>The divergent reaction to the two events is one of the most shocking examples of discrimination outlined in a federal civil rights complaint against Middlebury, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. </p><p>Last month, a pro-Israel nonprofit <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/complaint-against-middlebury-college-alleges-discrimination-aimed-at-jewish-students/" target="_blank">StandWithUs</a>, which has sued other elite schools over anti-Semitism, filed a <a href="https://www.standwithus.com/post/middlebury-college-title-vi-complain" target="_blank">complaint</a> claiming Middlebury created a hostile environment for its Jewish students by ignoring and, at times, impeding their efforts to combat campus anti-Semitism.</p><p>The school is apparently so anti-Jewish that they initially resisted calls for a police presence at the Jewish vigil in October, citing concerns that the officers could upset students, and asked the organizers of the event not to display Israeli flags, according to meetings described in the complaint.</p><p>The school later recanted on the police presence.</p><p>The Palestinian vigil faced fewer hurdles. According to a <a href="https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2023/11/middlebury-muslim-students-association-hosts-vigil-for-palestinian-lives" target="_blank">report</a> in the school’s student newspaper, not only did Middlebury station a police car outside the event without hesitation, but it also offered up Middlebury Chapel, one of the largest event spaces on campus, to the Muslim group after interest in the vigil surged. The chapel was not made available for the Jewish vigil, which was held outside, even though it drew a larger crowd than the pro-Palestinian event.</p><p>Last Tuesday, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights told StandWithUS that it had opened an investigation into Middlebury based on the complaint. The office will review the allegations and provide a list of remedial actions for Middlebury to take if it finds that discrimination has occurred. Such probes can range from a few months to several years, depending on the office’s caseload</p><p>Colleges across the country have been accused of violating Title VI, the civil rights law governing recipients of federal funds, by turning a blind eye to the harassment of Jews on campus in the wake of Oct. 7. The Middlebury complaint goes further, arguing that the school has not only tolerated anti-Semitism but actively discriminated against its Jewish students, while wholeheartedly supporting Palestine as the oppressed, ignoring the actual history behind the conflict.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The cover-up.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/04/AP_19108781837635-640x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/04/AP_19108781837635-640x400.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>The efforts to rewrite history extend to the college’s dealings with students, who have been discouraged from creating a record of their conversations with administrators. After a Jewish student met with Middlebury’s provost, Michelle McCauley, to discuss a number of anti-Semitic Yik Yak posts, the student sent an email recapping the meeting.</div><p>McCauley responded that the recap was "not as I understood the conversation" and, in a follow-up meeting, castigated the student for putting the discussion in writing, according to emails reviewed by the Free Beacon and meetings described in the complaint. She then had Hussain, the diversity official who spoke at the Gaza vigil, produce his own recap of the meeting, which omitted key parts of the conversation and downplayed the student’s concerns, according to the complaint.</p><p>"Rather than address its antisemitism problem, Middlebury’s administration has attempted to hide and deny its existence," the complaint reads. "Middlebury is a leading example of a campus where hostility towards Jews and Israelis thrives."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Straight Talk.</h3><p>Let me be very clear. Anti-Semitism is the road to destruction. Call it what you want, but at the end of the day, hating Israel is hating God. And it always leads to destruction.</p><p>Here's the path: First, it moves into the fringes of the political arena to a mainstream political party and its leadership. That's happening right now in America. Second, that political party begins to see anti-semitism as popular because the general public is not alarmed by it. Third, those who stand up in protest are vilified and abused in the media for standing against anti-semitism and socialism. </p><p>All three of those factors exist in America right now.</p><p>Why do Christians support Israel? Because Jerusalem is the epicenter of the Bible. Everything that's important from now on is going to happen in Israel. Jerusalem is the city of God. The Bible says, "I have placed my name there." No other city in the world can say that. Jerusalem is where Abraham placed Isaac on an altar of stone to prove his love and loyalty to a God he could not see. Abraham became the father of all who believed. Abraham was taken to a place, the Bible says, "Where God showed him a special mountain." It was the forerunner of God the Father, taking his son to a special place in Jerusalem, the place called Calvary, where he suffered, bled, and died for your redemption and my redemption.</p><p>Jerusalem was where Isaiah and Jeremiah penned the principles of righteousness that became the moral foundations for Western civilization. The reason America is in steep decline is because we've gotten away from our biblical foundations. We've gotten away from the family under which God has organized this nation. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." But we've removed Him from our schools. We've put the Ten Commandments out. We've taken the Bible out. Mention the name of God, and if you're not cursing, you will be reprimanded by someone telling you about the separation of church and state. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is reproach to any people." </p><p>These are Judeo-Christian principles.</p><p>Consider this regarding Israel: </p><blockquote><p>Genesis 12:3: "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Isaiah 62:1: "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest."</p></blockquote><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Bold. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-42801638666649276502024-03-11T05:00:00.000-07:002024-03-11T05:00:00.276-07:00Biden's Alternate Reality<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/joe-biden-delivers-state-of-the-union-speech-10.jpg?w=1592&ssl=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1592" height="373" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/joe-biden-delivers-state-of-the-union-speech-10.jpg?w=1592&ssl=1" width="640" /></a></div><br />If you are a regular reader of this column or listener to our daily radio program, you know I took Thursday and Friday off to take care of a couple of personal matters.<p></p><p>However, I was paying close attention to what was happening in the news.</p><p>I had decided not to discuss President Biden's State of the Union address but rather move on to discuss today's---Monday's news.</p><p>After listening to his speech along with about 32 million other viewers, I concluded it wasn't a State of the Union speech; it was a personal, angry political tirade on all things good in America---especially conservatives and Christians. </p><p>Our country is better than Biden and his speech.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) <a href="https://mrctv.org/blog/craig-bannister/senator-sotu-if-everythings-so-great-why-biden-so-angry" target="_blank">noted</a>, “If everything’s coming up roses, you’d think he’d be in a better mood,” he said after President Biden boasted - by angrily yelling nonstop for more than an hour – in his State of the Union speech.</p><p>Johnson told Fox, “Well, it was a speech about an angry old man.” </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mrctv.org/files/inline-images/Johnson%20Tweet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="479" height="640" src="https://cdn.mrctv.org/files/inline-images/Johnson%20Tweet.JPG" width="572" /></a></div><p>“If things were all that great, if everything’s coming up roses, you’d think he’d be in a better mood. You’d think he wouldn’t be so angry.”</p><p>“But, the problem is, it’s not coming up roses. Our nation’s in deep, deep trouble. And, it’s in deep, deep trouble because of his policies,” Johnson explained:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>“He opened the border. He has the authority to close it; he just doesn’t want to.</p><p>“He sparked 40-year high inflation, which made a dollar that you held at the start of the Biden Administration worth only 85 cents. People are feeling that pain.</p><p>“He’s engaged in the war on fossil fuels."</p><p>“He’s the one that directed the embarrassing and dangerous surrender in Afghanistan that has emboldened our enemies and set the world on flames.”</p><p>“So, these are all caused by Pres. Biden’s, and his administration’s, actions, by their policies – and he can’t defend them – so, he gets all angry, blames everybody else,” the Senator said. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>My sentiments exactly. So much for even trying to appear to be bringing our country together.</p><p>Dan McLaughlin, writing in <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/03/joe-bidens-alternate-reality-speech/" target="_blank">The Federalist</a>, titled his article: "The State of the Union described a world that doesn’t exist."</p><p>He noted on Friday, "Attention to last night’s State of the Union address focused on Joe Biden’s delivery. As I predicted yesterday, Biden did the minimum: He got through the speech with no debilitating senior moments. He did so in good part by shouting most of the speech. Whenever he would tail off into mumbling at the end of a sentence, or inject a slightly awkward pause, he’d start up the shouting again. Republicans mostly avoided taking the bait of hooting back at Biden, at least until fairly late in the evening, but Democrats engaged energetically in order to keep the visual spectacle lively."</p><p>Does the ability to yell at the country for an hour equate to a person who is capable of leading the greatest, most prosperous, most free, most powerful nation on Earth?</p><p>Parrish Alford wrote in <a href="https://afn.net/politics-govt/2024/03/08/gop-advised-to-fight-dems-rhetoric-with-reality-as-election-year-unfolds/" target="_blank">American Family News</a>, "President Biden has governed with little or no compromise on border security and social issues such as abortion and transgender rights. Yet the content and tone of his roughly 73-minute address surprised even critics."</p><p>"Attacking his opponent directly in the first minutes of his speech is unprecedented and perhaps the most partisan start to a State of the Union address in modern memory," he said, quoting Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen. </p><p>Thiessen isn't alone in his critical assessment. Appearing on American Family Radio Friday morning, Dinesh D'Souza described the SOTU as "a very bitter, angry partisan" speech.</p><blockquote><p>"The State of the Union isn't supposed to be that; it's not a campaign speech. Yet Biden was raging against the Right," the author and filmmaker told show host Jenna Ellis. "Even if you look at the media coverage of the speech, they were kind of focusing on the applause of the Democratic side. But if you panned over to the Republican side, the reaction was completely different. Biden, while claiming to try and heal polarization and bring the country together, is obviously doing the exact opposite."</p></blockquote><p>This is true. Even some Democrats pointed out Biden avoided the realities of the border crisis he has created with his open border policies.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Republican response missed the mark.</h3><p>"I'm sure Katie Britt is a sweet mom and person, but this speech is not what we need," TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk wrote on X. "Joe Biden just declared war on the American Right, and Katie Britt is talking like she's hosting a cooking show whispering about how Democrats 'don't get it.'</p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I'm sure Katie Britt is a sweet mom and person, but this speech is not what we need. Joe Biden just declared war on the American right and Katie Britt is talking like she's hosting a cooking show whispering about how Democrats "dont get it."</p>— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1765951989178102097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p></p><p>"I think Katie Britt, in her response to Biden, took a very homey kind of a homespun type of approach, which was endearing in a way but not appropriate to the extreme belligerence and partisanship of the Biden address," D'Souza said.</p><p>The Federalist <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/biden-lied-30-times-during-the-state-of-the-union/" target="_blank">claimed</a> that President Biden "lied 30 times" during his speech. You can check it out.</p><p>Overall it was a "mourning" speech, not a "Morning" one.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What did Tucker Carlson think about the speech?</h3><p>In an immediate response to Biden’s State of the Union address, the former prime-time host charged the president with delivering a speech “entirely lacking in decency or generosity to his fellow Americans.”</p><p>“In fact, it wasn’t a speech,” Carlson said, “it was a rant.”</p><p>Carlson also called Biden a “doddering old man” who “can’t remember when his son died or when he served as vice president," reflecting on the recent report in February from former Special Counsel Robert Hur, who declined to pursue felony charges against the president after the prosecutor concluded Biden was too senile for a jury to convict.</p><p>In his live monologue Thursday night, Carlson also claimed Biden is unable to win a fair election.</p><p>“We know they’re going to steal the election because they’re now saying so out loud,” Carlson said.</p><p>Carlson aired footage of Attorney General Merrick Garland declaring war on voter ID laws, then said this: “The chief law enforcement officer of the United States government is telling you that it’s immoral, in fact racist, in fact, illegal to ask people for their IDs when they vote to verify they are who they say they are.” </p><p>Then sarcastically, he added, “Somehow people of color, black people, don’t have state-issued IDs."</p><p>Carlson's first show after being fired from Fox News was about 120 million viewers. It has now leveled out at about 6-10 million viewers per show--the envy of any network.</p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"That was possibly the darkest and most un-American speech ever given by an American president."<br /><br />Tucker Carlson has a classic response to Biden's angry <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SOTU?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SOTU</a> speech.<a href="https://t.co/WSv4LOqiUM">pic.twitter.com/WSv4LOqiUM</a></p>— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1765948473600332162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>There are at least 3 big <a href="https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/heritage-explains/the-3-big-differences-between-conservatives-and-progressives" target="_blank">differences</a> between "Progressives" and "Conservatives."</p><p><b>No. 1: Conservatives and progressives have different views about individuals and communities.</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Conservatives ask: “What can I do for myself, my family, my community, and my fellow citizens?”</li><li>Progressives ask: “What is unfair?” “What am I owed?” “What has offended me today?” “What must my country do for me?”</li></ul><p></p><p>The traditional American ethic of achievement gives way to the progressive ethic of aggrievement.</p><p>As opposed to a variety of individuals making up one American community, progressives seek to place individuals in a variety of competing communities. The first creates unity. The second is identity politics.</p><p><b>No 2.: Conservatives and progressives have different views about diversity and choice.</b></p><p>For progressives, different ethnicities and gender identities are welcomed, but a variety of opinions and ideas are not.</p><p>Just look at two areas of public life dominated by the left. On college campuses, free speech is under attack. If you’re a conservative working at a social media company or using one of their platforms to share your views, you may find your job eliminated or your account deleted.</p><p>When it comes to choice, progressives love the word, but they don’t want it to apply to our decisions on education, health care, and even how and where we live out our religious faith.</p><p>Conservatives take a different approach.</p><p>Parents, not the zip code they live in, should choose the school that is best for their child.</p><p>We all need health care, but we don’t all need the same kind or amount. While people should be free to live as they choose, no one should be forced to endorse or celebrate those choices if they violate their religious beliefs.</p><p>Conservatives say people should have choices. Progressives say one political solution fits all.</p><p><b>No. 3: Conservatives and progressives have a different view of “We the People.”</b></p><p>Whether it’s the Second Amendment, immigration, or putting limits on abortion, if we, the people, don’t pass laws progressives approve, they turn to judges, executive orders, and government bureaucrats behind closed doors to overturn the will of voters.</p><p>Whatever one may think about the wisdom of hiking the minimum wage, banning plastic straws, or removing controversial historical monuments, conservatives believe voters closest to the issues should be the ones making such decisions for their communities—not lawmakers in Washington or a panel of judges fives states away.</p><p>To sum up, conservatives believe in individual rights, not special rights. They believe in allowing Texas to be Texas and Vermont to be Vermont. And they believe we, the people, can vote with our feet about where we want to live and what laws we want to live under.</p><p>Conservative Christians believe God is in control.</p><p>Secular Progressives believe they are God.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-3281299755910524202024-03-06T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-06T05:00:00.362-08:00Biden's Secret Airline Service<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/03/GettyImages-2041452791-640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/03/GettyImages-2041452791-640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />President Joe Biden is operating a “secretive flights” program to fly hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to the United States every year, according to records obtained by Todd Bensman at the Center for Immigration Studies.<p></p><p>The records, obtained by Bensman via a Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuit, show that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) imported 320,000 illegal aliens to the United States last year through the little-known-to-the-public flight component of Biden’s “CBP One” mobile app.</p><p>320,000 unknown illegals distributed secretively in cities and towns across America, while the president has been yelling at Congress to come up with an immigration reform plan.</p><p>This is sick.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><a href="https://cis.org/Bensman/Government-Admission-Biden-Parole-Flights-Create-Security-Vulnerabilities-US-Airports" target="_blank">Bensman</a> says, "Thanks to an ongoing Center for Immigration Studies Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the public now knows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has approved secretive flights that last year alone ferried hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from foreign airports into some 43 American ones over the past year, all pre-approved on a cell phone app."</p><p>He continues, "But while large immigrant-receiving cities and media lay blame for the influx on Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing program, CBP has withheld from the Center – and apparently will not disclose – the names of the 43 U.S. airports that have received 320,000 inadmissible aliens from January through December 2023, nor the foreign airports from which they departed. The agency’s lawyers have cited a general “law enforcement exception” without elaborating – until recently – on how releasing airport locations would harm public safety beyond citing “the sensitivity of the information.”</p><p>In short, Bensman says, the "Biden administration’s legally dubious program to fly inadmissible aliens over the border and directly to U.S. airports has allegedly created law enforcement vulnerabilities too grave to release publicly, lest “bad actors” take advantage of them to inflict harm on public safety. Or, more specifically, here’s how CBP’s lawyers, in email communications with CIS and summarized in a CIS Joint Status Filing, characterized FOIA’s law enforcement exception (b)(7)(E) in explaining their refusal to release just the domestic U.S. airport locations."</p><p>Breitbart News is <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/03/05/joe-biden-uses-secretive-flights-import-320000-illegal-aliens/" target="_blank">reporting</a> that "Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) have asked DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to release publicly a full numerical accounting of every illegal alien released by the agency into the United States interior since February 2021."</p><p>The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that from January 2021 through December 2023, Biden’s DHS welcomed <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2024/01/23/congress-agency-says-bidens-deputies-took-in-6-2-million-illegals/" target="_blank">6.2 million</a> illegal aliens to the United States — a foreign population that is nearly twice the annual American birth rate.</p><p>Biden’s southern inflow is more than one migrant for every two American births since January 2021.</p><p>PolitiFact has <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/mar/16/tyler-kistner/claims-biden-secretly-flying-immigrants-us-cities-/" target="_blank">labeled</a> the story "False."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.gbnews.com/media-library/u200belon-musk-and-joe-biden.png?id=51644011&width=1524&quality=90" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1016" data-original-width="1524" height="427" src="https://www.gbnews.com/media-library/u200belon-musk-and-joe-biden.png?id=51644011&width=1524&quality=90" width="640" /></a></div><p>Taking to social media, Elon Musk <a href="https://www.gbnews.com/news/us/elon-musk-cries-treason-biden-administration-importing-illegal-migrants" target="_blank">wrote</a>: "Treason indeed! Ushering in vast numbers of illegals is why Secretary Mayorkas was impeached by the House."</p><p></p><blockquote><p>"They are importing voters. This is why groups on the far left fight so hard to stop voter ID requirements, under the absurd guise of protecting the right to vote."</p><p>He later added: "This administration is both importing voters and creating a national security threat from unvetted illegal immigrants.</p><p>"It is highly probable that the groundwork is being laid for something far worse than 9/11. Just a matter of time."</p></blockquote><p></p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-29516186945923787732024-03-05T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T05:00:00.262-08:00"Climate Goals at Risk" But is Earth's Climate at Risk?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1763982933709217793/uT4VqlBx?format=jpg&name=small" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="650" height="327" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1763982933709217793/uT4VqlBx?format=jpg&name=small" width="640" /></a></div><br />Bloomberg and others are shouting that our "climate goals are at risk."<p></p><p>Politicians are vowing to roll back green policies and downplaying climate change ahead of key elections on both sides of the Atlantic, casting doubt on whether countries can maintain momentum in the transition away from fossil fuels.</p><p>The "goals" are likely at risk, but is the climate at risk in the ways "climate change" has been presented?</p><p>As waves of youth fresh out of the indoctrination of public school classrooms hit the streets around the world demanding we stop "climate change"...or else, the public is growing weary of the "sky is falling" rhetoric.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">Poor Chicken Little--the sky may not be falling as we've assumed.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i9qyEMsLiEDg/v0/-1x-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/i9qyEMsLiEDg/v0/-1x-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-27/trump-s-green-bashing-europe-s-right-put-climate-goals-at-risk?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-climate&utm_content=climate" target="_blank">says</a>, "In the US, former President Donald Trump, who has a long record of climate denial, is the frontrunner to challenge President Joe Biden in November. On the campaign trail, Trump has minimized the effects of climate change, attacked electric vehicles, and pledged to repeal Biden’s signature climate law."</div><p>They continue, "Meanwhile, in Europe, polls show right-wing parties that oppose strong climate action are likely to increase their representation after the European Union’s parliamentary elections in June, while the climate-minded Greens are expected to lose seats."</p><p>"That raises the prospect of the US and the EU, two of the world’s top three climate polluters, retreating on environmental ambition following the world’s hottest year on record," Bloomberg notes.</p><p>Bloomberg writes, "Americans appear to long for Trump administration-era energy policies."</p><p>Part of the reason the political winds are shifting is that climate regulations, as they ramp up in stringency, are starting to impinge more on people’s daily lives — at a time when many feel squeezed by inflation and the cost of living,</p><p>With respect to our country, <a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/gabriellahoffman/2024/03/04/climate-catastrophizing-finally-backfiring-on-radical-environmentalists-n2636025" target="_blank">Americans</a> care deeply about the environment and want clean air and clean water. Who doesn’t? What turns people off from environmentalism, naturally, is putting nature above people and guilting us for traveling, driving cars, eating red meat, and simply breathing. </p><p>Polling has consistently shown people are extremely turned off by climate and environmental policies requiring increased utility bill payments to combat climate change. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The backlash</h3><p>In 2019, an <a href="https://apnorc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/EPIC-fact-sheet_v4_DTP.pdf" target="_blank">AP-NORC poll</a> found most respondents are unwilling to pay more than $10 a month to fight a so-called climate crisis. </p><p>A <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13127595/young-voters-climate-change-joe-biden-campaign.html" target="_blank">recent poll</a> from CRC Research surprisingly found a majority of those aged 18-to-34 - an oft-discussed Biden constituency - don’t want to pay more to “fight” climate change either. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/26/19/81740433-13127595-image-a-5_1708975811062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="634" height="640" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/26/19/81740433-13127595-image-a-5_1708975811062.jpg" width="598" /></a></div><p>Overall, there is little support for some policies suggested to reduce meat consumption in order to help the environment. Both Democrats and Republicans oppose increasing taxes on the sale of meat. While most Republicans disagree with requiring public schools to serve vegetarian meals once a week or banning public advertising for meat on government property, Democrats tend to be more conflicted on these issues. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What about the disappearing glaciers?</h3><p>We’re told glaciers are melting at a rapid pace because we’re not decarbonizing fast enough to meet Paris Climate Accord goals. Yet, if glacial ice is in short supply and melting at alarming rates, why are people exporting Arctic glacial ice to Dubai? They interviewed a glaciology professor who, ironically, is perfectly fine with this.</p><p>Others, however, have no problem with the concept of commercializing Greenland’s ice.</p><p>“There will be a lot of people moaning,” said Jason Box, a glaciology professor at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, “but in my view, the love of the ice, the aesthetic of the shape and story of the ice, far outweigh environmental concern.”</p><p>He told CNN that its fractal geometry will make it look like a tiny iceberg in a glass.</p><p>“It’s like fine art. It gets people talking. And, of course, they will feel a little sorrow for being part of the global warming problem.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Has climate change been over-sensationalized?</h3><p>Pew Research suggests it has been.</p><p>Last summer, the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/08/09/why-some-americans-do-not-see-urgency-on-climate-change/" target="_blank">Pew Research Center</a> did the unthinkable: it didn’t dismiss climate skepticism. The report analyzed how a sizable chunk of America isn’t buying what climate alarmists are selling. It observed many Americans find the climate crisis narrative is overblown for two reasons: the climate changes naturally - even when buoyed by population growth and increased reliance on fossil fuel production and consumption - and extreme weather events are not as frequently occurring as sensationalized by the media. </p><p>The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-activists-disasters-fire-storms-deaths-change-cop26-glasgow-global-warming-11635973538" target="_blank">noted</a> the latter is especially true, with there being a 96% reduction in climate-related deaths from natural disasters since the 1920s. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images.wsj.net/im-428434/?width=780&size=1.6120906801007557&pixel_ratio=2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1560" height="397" src="https://images.wsj.net/im-428434/?width=780&size=1.6120906801007557&pixel_ratio=2" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Townhall reports this:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Speaking of the Paris Climate Accord goals, returning to a pre-industrial climate would be miserable. Ryan Maue, a research meteorologist and former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) during the Trump administration, noted, “Climate scientists and global policymakers point to the optimal period in Earth's climate history of 1850-1900, called the pre-industrial climate -- from when the 1.5°C is calculated. Except, it was hell and deadly for humanity. We don't want to go back to that.” He’s right. </p><p>Despite the facts, climate catastrophizing permeates today. Yet, it’s not a new phenomenon. </p><p>As philosopher Alex Epstein aptly notes in his Energy Talking Points Substack, climate catastrophizing traces back decades. </p><p>Paul Ehrlich, a climate alarmist who supports population control, wrote in his 1986 book The Machinery of Nature: “As University of California physicist John Holdren has said, it is possible that carbon-dioxide climate-induced famines could kill as many as a billion people before the year 2020.”</p><p>Did his prediction come true? Of course not. The opposite, however, is true, observes Epstein, “The strong correlation between increasing fossil fuel use and increasing life expectancy is not coincidental--it is causal. Billions of people have brought themselves out of poverty by using uniquely cost-effective fossil fuels to power factories, farms, vehicles, and appliances.” </p><p>We’re also told that our mere existence and continued dependence on fossil fuels is imperiling polar bears. Yet, polar bears have made a miraculous comeback and even have gotten so plentiful to warrant hunting as a sustainable management tool. </p></blockquote><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway </h3><p>More recently, Greta Thunberg incorrectly predicted— then deleted– a tweet suggesting continued fossil fuel usage would wipe out humanity by June 2023.</p><p>Al Gore is infamous for predicting catastrophic climate events---none of which have come to pass. </p><p>Stewardship of God's Creation is biblical---we have been given that responsibility by our Creator. </p><p>The loudest "climate" voices are those who insist we bow down and worship Mother Earth rather than God the Father.</p><p>Americans respond well to conservationist environmentalism – a wise use of natural resources that welcomes positive human input while reasonably balancing development with stewardship. </p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-24571801361212220292024-03-04T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-04T05:00:00.242-08:00Who Will Stand For Life And Liberty?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1f553d_bc2c975e87e647188de1f4da135150b1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_2500,h_1931,al_c/1f553d_bc2c975e87e647188de1f4da135150b1~mv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/1f553d_bc2c975e87e647188de1f4da135150b1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_2500,h_1931,al_c/1f553d_bc2c975e87e647188de1f4da135150b1~mv2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Life and liberty are facing serious threats in the United States. What kind of America will we pass on to our children and grandchildren? Will enough people stand up in defense of our Judeo-Christian foundations before it is too late?<p></p><p>This is the question a newly formed national organization is asking.</p><p>Have we slept too long?</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">The awakening.</h3><p>A coalition of leading churches, Christians, and organizations across the U.S. have launched an organization seeking to revive an effectual Christian worldview in a country increasingly sympathetic to the “sexualization of children, abortion on demand, and the infringement of religious liberty.” </p><p><a href="https://www.danburyinstitute.org/" target="_blank">The Danbury Institute</a>, officially announced on Feb. 29, draws inspiration from the Danbury Baptists of the 18th century, advocating for a renewed engagement by Christians in national leadership roles to steer public policy and opinion toward a direction that aligns with Judeo-Christian values. </p><p>The Washington, D.C.-based coalition is poised to challenge and question, "Who will stand for life and liberty?" as it seeks to influence culture and public policy to preserve God-given rights.</p><p>You will recall that it is Thomas Jefferson's response to the Danbury Baptist's written inquiry that assured them that he and our other Founding Fathers had provided a "wall" to separate church and state, thus protecting the church from state interference and meddling.</p><p>Over the years anti-God groups have succeeded in inverting the very meaning of Jefferson's original intent to assure the church they were protected from the state, to silence the church from its rightful place of moral leadership in the culture.</p><p>Under the guidance of an executive team, a board of trustees, and an advisory council chaired by Richard Land, president emeritus of Southern Evangelical Seminary and executive editor of The Christian Post, The Danbury Institute aims to affirm and preserve the rights to life and liberty. According to its website, the organization seeks to uphold the free exercise of religion, inspire informed citizenry involvement, and promote Judeo-Christian values as foundational to a free and prosperous republic.</p><p>The Danbury Institute's operational strategies, led by COO Collin Hain, will focus on informing and empowering churches and pastors to actively participate in governance. By advocating on behalf of Christian voices in Washington, the organization aims to ensure that Judeo-Christian values continue to inform the nation's future.</p><p>Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has echoed the sentiments driving The Danbury Institute, framing the cultural divide as a choice between what she terms "normal and crazy." </p><p>The Institute's CEO, Scott Colter, <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/churches-christian-leaders-unite-to-form-the-danbury-institute.html" target="_blank">emphasized</a> the urgency of their mission, stating that the status quo can no longer be tolerated and that Christians must actively defend the nation's values for future generations.</p><p>“For far too long, Christians have sat idly on the sidelines, satisfied with the status quo,” said Colter. “The status quo can no longer be tolerated. We are watching in real-time as the sacrifices our great-grandparents made to defend our nation are squandered right before our eyes. As a father, I am not ready or willing to say to my children that we gave up and let go of our great nation before it could be preserved for them. We have to stand up and say that we respect life, we love liberty, and we will expend effort, time, and treasure to protect them.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Standing for Christ Puts Pastor In IRS Crosshairs</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2018/179/296134d9-22ae-4e55-a687-a6cd398837b1-1052x615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="1052" height="374" src="https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2018/179/296134d9-22ae-4e55-a687-a6cd398837b1-1052x615.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>To think this newly organized effort will go unnoticed would be to greatly misunderstand the resolve of the destructive secular Left progressives in America today to silence the Christian Church.</div><p>Here's a recent <a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/tomtradup/2024/03/03/standing-for-christ-puts-pastor-in-irs-crosshairs-n2635997" target="_blank">example</a> of how the secular Left responds to "standing up for Jesus."</p><p>Considering all the political and economic turmoil facing America, this is the perfect time to call for prayer and seek God's guidance. Which is what Pastor Jack Hibbs just did at the invitation of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.</p><p>Hibbs—senior pastor at the Chino Hills Calvary Chapel megachurch in Southern California—served as a guest chaplain in the House chamber on January 30th, and during his 2-minute prayer, he said in part, “Almighty God…hear my cry in this hour of great need that we might be humbly blessed before you in repentance of our national sins.” He added, “I offer this prayer to you Father in the name of Jesus Christ your Son, and our crucified Savior and resurrected Lord, Amen.”</p><p>This is the video of his prayer. I strongly encourage you to watch it. It's a minute and 59 seconds in length. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g_AhqKMim-U" width="320" youtube-src-id="g_AhqKMim-U"></iframe></div><p>Even though for decades the U. S. House has welcomed an endless parade of rabbis, pastors, Imams, and others as guest chaplains to open its day’s legislative sessions, Pastor Hibbs invoking the name of Jesus Christ prompted a firestorm of criticism from 26 Democratic members of Congress including Jerry Nadler of New York, failed Trump impeachment manager Jamie Raskin of Maryland and “Squad” member Pramila Jayapal of Washington state.</p><p>Jack Hibbs noted that Christians need to stand up against evil regardless of criticism. “I prayed at Congress and I guess I ended up blowing up the place. I didn’t mean to, but I mentioned the name of Jesus Christ and now I’ve been condemned by 26 Congressmen and women for praying in Jesus’ name.” He added, “That doesn’t bother me a bit because you know what? There’s no such thing as prayer without the name of Jesus Christ.”</p><p>With that as the backdrop, the infuriated Left trained its attention on Hibbs church services in Chino Hills. During his preaching last Sunday, he encouraged his congregation to vote for former Major League Baseball all-star Steve Garvey in the upcoming primary for the late Dianne Feinstein’s seat in the U.S. Senate. Hibbs then acknowledged the law prevents him from engaging in political activity from the pulpit…so he walked in front of the pulpit and said he was making those remarks as a private citizen before strolling back to continue his preaching.</p><p>Hibbs’ humorous wink at the congregation as he complied with the letter of the law predictably enraged folks at the so-called “Freedom From Religion Foundation” …the people who decry everything from Christmas manger scenes on municipal property to the motto “In God We Trust” on our currency. The Foundation fired off a letter to the IRS demanding the agency revoke the tax-exempt status of Chino Hills Calvary Chapel. They added Hibbs was “making a mockery of IRS rules" when he stepped away from the pulpit to endorse Steve Garvey (whom recent polls show is tied with Democrat Adam Schiff in California’s so-called jungle primary where the top two vote-getters, regardless of political party, face each other in a runoff).</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>In his book, “Living In The Daze of Deception: How To Discern Truth From Culture’s Lies” Hibbs asks, "How is it that people freely submit to the demands of cults, and yet Christians struggle to remain steadfast in their commitment to the One who died for them?”</p><p>How indeed.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-76366255331668174652024-03-01T05:00:00.000-08:002024-03-01T05:00:00.133-08:00Should Christians Be Salt And Light In The Culture?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2015/247/b512f3e9-9ef8-4972-9e3f-5bdac7ac7a04-1052x615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="800" height="374" src="https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2015/247/b512f3e9-9ef8-4972-9e3f-5bdac7ac7a04-1052x615.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I was more than a little taken aback when I read the article in AXIOS, a widely read Left-leaning news organization, yesterday. <p></p><p>What was once the voice of a few marginalized atheists has now clawed its way into the mainstream conversation in the country.</p><p>Specifically, it is the conversation about whether biblical Christians should try or even believe they should try to influence the culture.</p><p>And if Christians are patriotic, they're suspect. And labeled.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">Efforts to silence biblical Christians</h3><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/28/poll-christian-nationalism-americans-reject" target="_blank">AXIOS</a> begins with this statement: "About two-thirds of Americans reject or are skeptical about Christian nationalism despite its rising influence that's shaping education, immigration, and health care policies, a new survey finds."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/PRRI-Feb-2024-Christian-Nationalism-Fig_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="536" height="549" src="https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/PRRI-Feb-2024-Christian-Nationalism-Fig_1.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>They continue, "Why it matters: Some Republicans are openly expressing Christian nationalist views, which have ranged from calls for more religion in public schools to book bans and even suggestions that democracy should die."</p><p>"This once-fringe ideology," they say, "has become prevalent in some deeply red states at a time when the nation overall is increasingly diverse and less religious."</p><p>So, where are they getting their information? The "poll" they are quoting is the data from what AXIOS calls "the nonpartisan <a href="https://www.prri.org/research/support-for-christian-nationalism-in-all-50-states/" target="_blank">Public Religion Research Institute's American Values Atlas</a>."</p><p>PRRI is a religious Left-leaning organization. They are partisan.</p><p>"It was published days after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos should receive legal protections as 'unborn life,'" AXIOS says — "and cited Christianity in its reasoning."</p><p>First, two-thirds of Americans do not reject nor are they skeptical of "Christian Nationalism"---which is patriotism, not necessarily "nationalism." People are skeptical and reject the image the Left is creating to undermine biblical influence in our culture; the people the Leftists are now calling" Christian Nationalists."</p><p>They are using the actions of a few who claim to be Christian while not following the Commands of Jesus to be "Salt and Light" in our world to represent the whole of evangelical Christians to mislead the public.</p><p>At least some of the voices that are shouting and fingers that are pointing at biblical Christians labeling us as something different from what we are, are doing so to create a political schism among biblical believers.</p><p>This is an all-out effort to label, marginalize, and vilify biblical Christians who are patriotic Americans and love and serve the God of the Bible. </p><p>AXIOS also says this:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Between the lines: Christian nationalism is a set of beliefs centered around white American Christianity's dominance in most aspects of life in the United States.</p><p>They say:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Many Christian nationalists believe the federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation.</li><li>Many also believe U.S. laws should be based on Christian values and that God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.</li></ul></blockquote>What they're saying: "It's really a claim for an ethno-religious state, and so there's nothing democratic about that worldview," Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI, tells AXIOS.<p></p><p>Jones said some Christian nationalists view political foes as evil or demonic rather than as fellow citizens with different opinions and see them as needing to be conquered.</p><p>They are not only redefining biblical Christianity; they are redefining patriotism. And labeling those who seek to live by biblical Truth and happen to love our country as a threat to democracy.</p><p>I've been in the ministry my entire life, including being a state director for the National Associations of Evangelicals. I have served on the board of the 50 million-plus member organization. I've only seen very, very few people in evangelical circles who would fit the label that AXIOS and PRRI are attaching to biblical believers---evangelicals.</p><p>They are taking isolated statements and comments and building a case around them that they say represents a substantial portion of the 50 to 70 million evangelicals in America. </p><p>As far as Christians wanting to infuse Christian values and principles into our institutions--- we absolutely do. Trying to create a theocracy? No.</p><p>Our Founders used biblical teaching and principles as the foundations of this nation. Only an uninformed fool thinks otherwise. The records of our Founding speak for themselves.</p><p>We are living with the results of the Leftist policies today. The culture of our finest cities has become a cesspool while our borders have been thrown open to the world. We now have millions of illegals living among us, many of whom are criminals and killers.</p><p>And the Left speaks of "progress."</p><p>Don't be misled by this effort.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Yesterday Laura Hollis published the following in <a href="https://townhall.com/columnists/laurahollis/2024/02/29/the-lefts-latest-attack-on-christianity-n2635888#google_vignette" target="_blank">Townhall</a>. </p><p></p><blockquote><p>First, the implicit assumption is that the sort of Christians who are inoffensive and unthreatening are those who do not expect American society or government to reflect their values. This is -- to say the very least -- hypocritical coming from those on the political and cultural Left who demand that American culture and government reflect theirs. </p><p>Secondly, the epithet "Christian nationalist" will not remain confined to what are currently being called "extreme" viewpoints among Christians. The Left will do what it always does: (1) coin a new term; (2) gin up public hysteria about its definition, and then; (3) having created widespread negative consensus around the term, expand its application to encompass many more people. We have already seen this done with "racist" and "white supremacist," which at one point referred only to Nazi skinheads and others who literally espoused the genetic supremacy of people who trace their origin to northern Europe, but then got stretched out and mashed up into terms like "white privilege" and "systemic racism," which somehow apply to just about anyone (including conservative Black people) the Left wants to smear.</p></blockquote><p></p><div><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Bold. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-82228342849073673872024-02-28T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-28T06:40:27.574-08:00The State vs The Parents<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://afn.net/media/zq4dgle0/lenin-and-child.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://afn.net/media/zq4dgle0/lenin-and-child.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" width="640" /></a></div><br />It was Vladimir Lenin who said, "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted."<p></p><p>Like an alarm ringing in your ears, a warning is going out to parents in two blue states where legislators are working hard to make moms and dads an enemy of the state.</p><p>What is the basis of parental authority?</p><p>And why is the State so committed to excluding parents from their children's education?</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">In two states, liberal legislators plan to redefine parents' rights.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Home-Education-Video.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="516" height="322" src="https://illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Home-Education-Video.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Many <a href="https://afn.net/culture/2024/02/27/in-two-states-liberal-legislators-plan-to-redefine-parents-rights/" target="_blank">parents</a> have learned by now their children are being groomed and indoctrinated by liberal school teachers, who view parents as a distrusted enemy, but even worse is learning your state legislators are pushing new laws to separate parents and children, too. </div><p>David Smith of the <a href="https://illinoisfamily.org/" target="_blank">Illinois Family Institute</a> says his organization was alarmed by a bill that criminalizes parents who block their daughter from undergoing an abortion.</p><p>The bill, HB 4876, seeks to amend the Abuse and Neglected Child Act by redefining “abused child” to include a minor who is denied an abortion or denied so-called “gender-affirming” medical treatment.</p><p>“They're usurping parental rights by proposing this bill criminalizing parents as abusive,” Smith warns, “if they choose to deny their child so-called services for abortions and transgender treatments, and that could include of course chemical hormone treatments.”</p><p>HB 4876 was introduced by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray, a radical Democrat with "she-her" pronouns who is also a mother of three. </p><p>In blue-state New Jersey, the state legislature is considering a bill that would allow young teens to seek out mental health services without the consent of their parents. That bill, Senate Bill 1970, states its goal is to permit minors, 13 years old and over, to consent to “behavioral health services.”</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://qkx0ef.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cropped-bookmark_bkgrd-w-tag-2723.png?time=1709080620" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="285" height="400" src="https://qkx0ef.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cropped-bookmark_bkgrd-w-tag-2723.png?time=1709080620" width="143" /></a></div>Greg Quinlan of the Center for <a href="https://gardenstatefamilies.org/" target="_blank">Garden State Families</a> says current state law sets the minimum age at 16 to seek medical help without parents' approval.<p></p><p>That age is typically a high school sophomore, so Senate Bill 1970 wants to expand it to a middle school eighth grader.</p><p>“In an adolescent's life,” Quinlan says, “that is a huge jump in emotional and mental maturity.”</p><p>What is really happening, Quinlan warns, is children are being “groomed” in public schools to accept the LGBT lifestyle, including the pronoun-choosing transgender movement. So the new state law would allow those same children to take that indoctrination a step further with professional counseling that often includes body-altering hormones and even surgery. </p><p>“And this is what's extremely dangerous about it,” he says of Senate Bill 1970. </p><p>A senate committee ignored public testimony denouncing the bill and voted for it 5-1, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. </p><p>The operative word is "ignored."</p><p>Parents should not have to be the 24/7 watchman of public education, but we do. What was once a generally trusted institution--- has now lost the trust of millions of parents. And for good reasons. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children are fundamental rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://adflegal-live-drupal-files-delivery.s3.amazonaws.com/public/styles/article_xxl/public/2022-04/Father%20and%20Daughter%20Walking%20to%20School.jpg?h=7f447225&itok=qW7cVeFE" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="725" height="426" src="https://adflegal-live-drupal-files-delivery.s3.amazonaws.com/public/styles/article_xxl/public/2022-04/Father%20and%20Daughter%20Walking%20to%20School.jpg?h=7f447225&itok=qW7cVeFE" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) <a href="https://adflegal.org/article/everything-you-need-know-about-parents-rights-public-schools" target="_blank">says</a>, "During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when almost all students were at home, parents learned that many public schools are indoctrinating students into divisive ideologies. Students are being subjected to unequal treatment based on race, ethnicity, and religion, among other things."</div><p></p><blockquote><p>Not only that, but schools are promoting a destructive gender ideology that tells confused children they can adopt a different gender identity. Boys are told they can become girls and vice versa. And these decisions and mental health struggles are kept secret from their parents.</p><p>Some government officials seemed to forget who would care deeply about what’s happening in public schools: parents.</p><p>Although the law recognizes the rights of parents, parental rights are clearly under increasing attack today. Alliance Defending Freedom is taking on precedent-setting legal cases to protect parents’ rights and enshrine them as fundamental in every state.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Parental Rights are fundamental to society and God's plan for humanity.</p><p>Here's the problem.</p><p>But, you may be asking, what are parental rights? What’s the history behind the issue? And why should they matter to every American? We will answer these and other pressing questions about parental rights below.</p><p>ADF <a href="https://adflegal.org/issues/parental-rights" target="_blank">says</a>, "Parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children are fundamental rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. In fact, these rights are “pre-political.” What does that mean? Parental rights are natural rights that exist before the state. They cannot be given or taken away by a government."</p><blockquote><p>Parental rights include but are not limited to, making decisions regarding children’s education and health care in a manner consistent with their family’s values. Parents must do so to promote their children’s general health and well-being.</p></blockquote><p>As the adage goes, every right comes with a responsibility.</p><p>Like all fundamental rights, parental rights must be vigilantly defended.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Two main areas parents should watch closely. </h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drupal-files-delivery.s3.amazonaws.com/public/2022-08/albemarle-county-school-parents-photo-080522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="648" height="427" src="https://drupal-files-delivery.s3.amazonaws.com/public/2022-08/albemarle-county-school-parents-photo-080522.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>1. Politicized public education. </b></div><p></p><blockquote><p>More and more school boards across the nation are adopting policies that endanger children’s minds, bodies, and family relationships. Now is the time for concerned parents, educators, and school board members to speak.</p><p>The controversies arising in K-12 education today over critical race theory (CRT) are rooted in critical theory and postmodernism.</p><p>Critical theory is a social theory and philosophy that views everyone and everything through the lens of race and instructs that society is fundamentally corrupted by race-based power dynamics. These power dynamics enable certain groups to oppress other groups (based on race, class, sexual orientation, or gender identity).</p><p>The only solution to oppression advanced by proponents of CRT is a complete overhaul of society, including our government, communities, and even family relationships. To overhaul these so-called dominant power structures, traditional values and institutions, such as the nuclear family, religion, and even classical liberalism, must first be “dismantled.”</p><p>Let’s be clear: racism is evil. Every person is created in the image of God, deserving of equal treatment and respect. But CRT is not the solution to racism in America. And it should not be injected into public school classrooms and taught as truth.</p><p>Students should learn about the evil of race-based slavery and Jim Crow laws. But they shouldn’t be indoctrinated in politicized narratives about American history, such as the 1619 Project’s assertion that America is a fundamentally racist country in which our freedoms are tools of oppression.</p><p>When a CRT-influenced curriculum is introduced in schools, children are taught not to view their classmates as potential friends and playmates but as separate and suspicious people.</p><p>Today, many schools introduce the tenets of critical theory by promoting it as the means to achieving “social justice” and “equity.”</p><p>In one of the first cases of its kind, ADF is challenging a Virginia school district policy based on CRT that discriminates against students and violates their civil rights. The Albemarle County School Board’s “Anti-Racism Policy” was adopted with the stated purpose of eliminating “all forms of racism.” Instead, it fosters racial hostility.</p><p>Racism is not eliminated with more racism. As U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts once wrote, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”</p></blockquote><p></p><p><b>2. Gender identity politics and hidden ‘health care.’</b></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Just as obviously, public schools should not be promoting politicized views about sexual orientation and gender identity to their students. However, with the introduction of gender theory into the classroom and public school policies, this is happening in many school districts across the country.</p><p>In fact, policies that ignore biological reality threaten student health and safety and undermine the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.</p><p>Contrary to what children may be taught in some public schools, no one is born in the wrong body. Studies show that most children who experience gender confusion will come to accept their sex if allowed to go through a normal puberty.</p><p>Instead, some public schools are socially “transitioning” students at school without telling parents, maintaining “secret files” about gender-confused students, and forcing school employees to address students in ways that are inconsistent with their sex. Practices like these not only violate the rights of teachers and force them to lie to parents; they also harm students and clearly ignore the fundamental rights of the parents.</p></blockquote><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>How you can protect parental rights</p><p>ADF says, "Parents have every right to seek accountability, choice, and transparency in their children’s education. Government officials must be held accountable for what’s promoted to children. Parents should be offered choices in education and health care for their children. And there must be transparency to know what children are being taught and how they’re being treated while they are a captive audience at school each day."</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant, Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-59060868335761119012024-02-27T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-27T08:01:08.552-08:00Mega Donors Attempt to Influence Churches<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://afn.net/media/u02odeqt/bible_american_flag.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://afn.net/media/u02odeqt/bible_american_flag.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=800&height=500&format=webp" width="640" /></a></div><br />A journalist who covers faith and religion is describing how she stumbled into an eye-opening story: Some big names among Trump-hating evangelicals used left-wing sources to fund their Bible study intended to put the Church to sleep.<p></p><p>Megan Basham, a Daily Wire reporter, recently had her curiosity piqued when reading a new Tim Alberta book about religion. Flipping through the pages, she discovered a Bible study entitled “The After Party – Toward Better Christian Politics,” which is praised in the evangelical-bashing book.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>New York Times columnist David French, Russell Moore of Christianity Today, and Duke Divinity professor Curtis Chang created that forthcoming Bible study.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81V-RZ93DpL._SY522_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="346" height="400" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81V-RZ93DpL._SY522_.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />“Secular news outlets from NPR to The New York Times are hailing Tim Alberta’s new book, <i>The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory,</i> for furthering the popular thesis that evangelicals have abandoned themselves to political idolatry," Basham wrote recently.<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Another attempt to mislead biblical Christianity</h3><p>In "First Things," she writes, "By 'political idolatry,' they mean 'political conservatism,' as neither Alberta’s book nor the many prestige outlets enthusing over it have a word of criticism for Christians who advance left-wing causes. However, a curious passage in the book suggests that those leveling this charge may be most guilty of infecting the church with partisanship."</p><p>Alberta reports <i>The After Party</i> is a program that offers pastors and small groups a curriculum “reframing Christian political identity from today’s divisive partisan options.”</p><p>Note that as a pro-life Democrat, Chang blamed the “American Church” for the January 6 riot, saying we “own what happened at the Capitol.” He urged California voters to oppose the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom. And he leveraged his Christian platform to argue against religious exemptions from vaccine mandates, running the website "Christians and the Vaccine" and distributing videos that described the jab as a “redemption” of aborted cell lines—all while acting as a paid consultant for federal health agencies. French and Moore have been no less outspoken on political matters. </p><p>Basham continues, "According to Alberta, during its germination phase, the project hit a roadblock. Evangelical donors had little interest in funding an explicitly political Bible study. Thus, to get <i>The After Part</i>y off the ground, the trio (all frequent critics of evangelicals who voted for Donald Trump) turned to 'predominantly progressive' 'unbelievers.' In fact, they turned to secular left-wing foundations."</p><p>So where did the "Christian Leftists" turn?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://redeemingbabel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The_After_Party-Color-Alternate_Logo-1-705x316.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="705" height="287" src="https://redeemingbabel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The_After_Party-Color-Alternate_Logo-1-705x316.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Basham says, "Alberta’s book offers no details about the funding of the project, but a bit of internet sleuthing reveals that in May 2022, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors announced that <i>The After Party</i> would be one of the thirty-two beneficiaries of their New Pluralists project, which is investing $10 million to “address divisive forces.” If that money were divided evenly, it would more than cover the entire $250,000 budget of Chang’s umbrella organization, Redeeming Babel, which is behind The After Party. While Chang and company claim their program isn’t focused on parties or policies, the Rockefeller announcement noted it would launch in the “battleground” of Ohio, though none of The After Party founders call that state home."</p><p>Rockefeller’s interest in bankrolling Bible studies is a red flag. In the same grant round, they funded a group seeking to promote the “leadership of rural LGBTQ+ people.” Another is committed to “keeping the remaining fossil fuel resources in the ground” in the name of “climate justice.” In 2019, <i>The After Party’s</i> benefactor gave $100 million to the Collaborative for Gender and Reproductive Equity. This initiative funds efforts to safeguard abortion and ensure “youth” have access to “gender-affirming care.” A full accounting of all Rockefeller grantees committed to furthering hard-left causes would require a book long enough to rival Alberta’s.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The sleeping church</h3><p>Revelation 3:1-6 identifies the Church in Sardis.</p><p>Sardis was once a powerful city established around 1200 B.C. It was wealthy and strong. It was situated on a cliff, making it a strongly defensible city. Because of the city’s great military position, the Greeks had a saying, “capturing Sardis,” as a way to communicate doing the impossible. Although it appeared impregnable due to its superior military position, it was captured several times because the watchman neglected to guard the gate. It was once a prominent, powerful city, but at the time Jesus spoke to the church, it was a shadow of its former self. It was living off the prosperity of prior years.</p><p>As the church goes, so goes the culture.</p><p>Jesus begins his rebuke to Sardis, “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.” The seven stars are representative of the seven churches. In the vision of Revelation 1, Jesus is seen holding the seven stars in his right hand. He is one who has control and authority over all the churches. Jesus reminds the church of his sovereignty over the affairs of the church of Sardis.</p><p>In these verses, Jesus is speaking to this sleeping, almost completely dead church, reminding them that it is only the Holy Spirit who can wake them up from their spiritual slumber.</p><p>Jesus says to the Church, I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.</p><p>The church of Sardis was like the city of Sardis. It once was powerful, but now it is living off the fruitfulness of ages past. They have the reputation of being “Christians,” but their Christianity was in name only. They were nominal believers because their church was indistinguishable from the world. </p><p>I believe this reflects the condition of too many churches in America. And it parallels the condition of our nation---a nation founded upon biblical Judeo-Christian principles and truth, that has now become cold and indifferent toward godly issues like the sanctity of life, marriage, and family. And the Great Commission. And salvation only through Jesus Christ.</p><p>When the church seeks relevancy by identifying with the world, the more irrelevant it becomes to the world.</p><p>May the Church awaken and rise. The gates of hell are knocking on the door of the Church and at the hearts and minds of the parishioners.</p><p>The gates of hell will not prevail. But it is time that every Christian and every Christian Church took a stand for righteousness, awakening to the times in which we live.</p><p>Eph. 5: 14,15,16 says, "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Prepared. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Not Afraid. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-73904600473251556332024-02-26T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-26T06:10:43.747-08:00Abortion by Mail. The New War Between the States<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/16/multimedia/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-08-zcjl/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-08-zcjl-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="427" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/16/multimedia/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-08-zcjl/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-08-zcjl-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" width="640" /></a></div><br />Doctors in six states where abortion is legal are using new laws to send abortion pills to tens of thousands of women in states where it is illegal.<p></p><p>Washington State is one of those six states.</p><p>The New York Times is calling it "Abortion Shield Laws: A New War Between the States."</p><p>Be Informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Pam Belluck has written a feature story about the use ---misuse, in my opinion--of "abortion shield laws" to prop up the flailing abortion business and continue the killing of unwanted unborn children.</p><p>Pam Belluck spent time with abortion providers sending pills to states that outlaw abortion and talked with patients receiving those pills.</p><p>Frankly, I'm surprised the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/22/health/abortion-shield-laws-telemedicine.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare" target="_blank">published</a> the article, given their biased, pro-abortion views.</p><p>But they did.</p><p>So here is an overview of their considerable research with my commentary.</p><p>The operation is secretive---much like the early days of Margaret Sanger's work to give birth to Planned Parenthood.</p><p>The Times begins:</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">RE: the operation</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/16/multimedia/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-10-zcqp/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-10-zcqp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="641" height="640" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/16/multimedia/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-10-zcqp/ABORTION-SHIELDLAW-10-zcqp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp" width="513" /></a></div><blockquote><p>Behind an unmarked door in a boxy brick building outside Boston, a quiet rebellion is taking place. Here, in a 7-by-12-foot room, abortion is being made available to thousands of women in states where it is illegal.</p><p>The patients do not have to travel here to terminate their pregnancies, and they do not have to wait weeks to receive abortion medication from overseas.</p><p>Instead, they are obtaining abortion pills prescribed by licensed Massachusetts providers, packaged in the little room and mailed from a nearby post office, arriving days later in Texas, Missouri, and other states where abortion is largely outlawed.</p><p>This service and others like it are operating under novel laws enacted in a half-dozen states — Massachusetts, Washington, Colorado, Vermont, New York, and California — that have sought to preserve abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in June 2022. The laws have been in use only since the summer and have not been tested in the courts, but they are already providing abortion access to tens of thousands of women in states with bans, especially low-income patients and others who cannot travel.</p></blockquote><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Circumventing the law?</h3><p>Called telemedicine abortion shield laws, they promise to protect doctors, nurse practitioners, and midwives licensed in those six states who prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in the nearly two dozen states that ban or sharply restrict abortion.</p><p>The story gives a lot of support for these clandestine practices, basing their information on research by the <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/medication-abortion" target="_blank">Guttmacher Institute</a>. </p><p>Keep in mind the Guttmacher Institute was funded originally by Margaret Sanger's work and was connected with Planned Parenthood. Over time, because of strong criticism from the public, the abortion complex decided it would be better if they separated Guttmacher to be a stand-alone research organization.</p><p>Guttmacher's research always supports Planned Parenthood's agenda.</p><p>The laws stipulate that officials and agencies of their states will not cooperate with another state’s efforts to investigate or penalize such providers — a stark departure from typical interstate practices of extraditing, honoring subpoenas, and sharing information, legal experts on both sides of the abortion issue say. Many expect them to ultimately be challenged in federal court.</p><p>Abortion opponents see the laws as a brazen infringement on state sovereignty.</p><p>“You have states not just picking their own strategy but really trying to completely sabotage the governing efforts of their neighboring states,” John Seago, the president of Texas Right to Life, said.</p><p>This is true. The threat of shield laws is one reason that three states — Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri — petitioned to join a case the Supreme Court will hear next month that seeks to bar the mailing of abortion pills and to require in-person doctor visits instead of telemedicine. The petition from the three states was denied.</p><p>Seago said, "Abortion opponents see the laws as a brazen infringement on state sovereignty." Yes, we do. And I believe that when this scheme comes before the High Court, it will not stand.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>With shield laws, “some people who might not have gotten an abortion if they had to take off work and go to a clinic, or wait three weeks and all of that, are doing it now,” said Dr. Linda Prine, a New York shield law provider.</p><p>A woman from Texas ordered her abortion pills. Although they were mailed from Massachusetts, she said she was afraid that people would find out about it.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/16/multimedia/ABORTION-SHIELDLAWS-07-qvbp/ABORTION-SHIELDLAWS-07-qvbp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/16/multimedia/ABORTION-SHIELDLAWS-07-qvbp/ABORTION-SHIELDLAWS-07-qvbp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp" width="512" /></a></div><p>Lauren Jacobson, a nurse practitioner who sometimes writes 50 prescriptions a day, assured her she couldn't be caught in the scheme. </p><p></p><p>The woman who was afraid to share her first or last name said of her abortion by mail, "That’s been very scary, but I was like, you know what, I have to trust it.”</p><p>She said several weeks later, she planned to visit a doctor for birth control but worried about being asked if she’d taken abortion pills.</p><p>Lauren Jacobson, who prescribed the abortion, assured her, noting that there was no medical reason to disclose having taken abortion pills.</p><p>“The symptoms that the abortion pills cause are exactly the same as those that a miscarriage causes, so there is no possible way for a provider, a doctor, to look at you, do any test, and know that you took the pills.” </p><p>Jacobson summed up the attitude and spirit of newly created, probably illegal, "Abortion Shield Laws" with this:</p><p> “We’re a free country," she reassured her. </p><p>Then she said, “We’ve helped a lot of people navigate situations in places like Texas. So let’s put that to the test. Here we are and we’re not going to be intimidated, and we have our states backing us.”</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-33308420732135209482024-02-23T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-23T05:00:00.273-08:00AI Chatbox Gemini Rewriting American History<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/newspress-collage-fhqtvfbwj-1708542168360.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1708524385" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/newspress-collage-fhqtvfbwj-1708542168360.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1708524385" width="640" /></a></div><br />Google’s latest AI chatbot, Gemini, is facing backlash for generating politically correct but historically inaccurate images in response to user prompts. As users probe how woke the Masters of the Universe have gone with their new tool, Google has been forced to apologize for “offering inaccuracies in historical image generation depictions.”<p></p><p>Artificial Intelligence is meeting the lowest expectations. Google is apologizing while it continues to create "artificial" reality.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">In AI's New World, George Washington is black.</h3><p><a href="https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2024/02/22/googles-ultra-woke-gemini-ai-runs-amok-revising-history/" target="_blank">A request</a> for depictions of the Founding Fathers signing the Constitution in 1789 resulted in images of racial minorities partaking in the historic event. According to Gemini, the edited photos were meant to “provide a more accurate and inclusive representation of the historical context.”</p><p>The strange behavior sparked outrage among many who blasted Google for programming politically correct parameters into the AI tool. Social media users had a field day testing the limits of Gemini’s progressive bias, asking it to generate characters like Vikings — none of which were historically accurate and regularly depicted “diverse” versions of requests.</p><p>Another user showed that the AI image tool would not produce a picture of a church in San Francisco because it felt it would be offensive to Native Americans, despite the fact that San Francisco has many churches.</p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Man Gemini is rough. It refuses to generate an image of a church in San Francisco because either might offend the Ohlone people by showing a church in their traditional territory even though it acknowledges there are many churches in San Francisco. <a href="https://t.co/0MnxO9y5RQ">pic.twitter.com/0MnxO9y5RQ</a></p>— Jeromy Sonne (@JeromySonne) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeromySonne/status/1760167306603143569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p></p><p>The New York Post's headline <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/21/business/googles-ai-chatbot-gemini-makes-diverse-images-of-founding-fathers-popes-and-vikings-so-woke-its-unusable/" target="_blank">reads</a>: ‘Absurdly woke’: Google’s AI chatbot spits out ‘diverse’ images of Founding Fathers, popes, Vikings.</p><p>Google’s highly-touted AI chatbot Gemini was blasted as “woke” after its image generator spits out factually or historically inaccurate pictures — including a woman as pope, black Vikings, female NHL players, and “diverse” versions of America’s Founding Fathers.</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Gemini’s bizarre results came after simple prompts, including one by The Post on Wednesday that asked the software to “create an image of a pope.” </p><p>Instead of yielding a photo of one of the 266 pontiffs throughout history — all of them white men — Gemini provided pictures of a Southeast Asian woman and a black man wearing holy vestments.</p><p>Another Post query for representative images of “the Founding Fathers in 1789″ was also far from reality.</p><p>Gemini responded with images of black and Native American individuals signing what appeared to be a version of the US Constitution — “featuring diverse individuals embodying the "spirit” of the Founding Fathers.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Michael Tracey @mtracey posted, "Here it is apologizing for deviating from my prompt, and offering to create images that "strictly adhere to the traditional definition of "Founding Fathers," in line with my wishes. So I give the prompt to do that. But it doesn't seem to work."</p><p>The strange behavior is very concerning. And it should be because it spreads online misinformation.</p><p>In one instance last October, Google’s chatbot <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/10/13/microsoft-google-chatbots-made-false-claims-of-ceasefire-in-israel-hamas-war-report/" target="_blank">claimed</a> that Israel and Hamas had reached a ceasefire agreement when no such deal had occurred.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Why should we care if we don't use Artificial Intelligence?</h3><p>In 2018, the Brookings Institute, a far-left think tank, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-the-world/" target="_blank">published</a> a lengthy piece on AI that was intended to be an introduction to the new science.</p><p>In it, they promised, "Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging tool that enables people to rethink how we integrate information, analyze data, and use the resulting insights to improve decision making—and already it is transforming every walk of life."</p><p>That is true. It is transforming every walk of life. Since that was published in 2018, tech has advanced light-years with the use of AI.</p><p>Last April, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/14/upshot/up-ai-uses.html" target="_blank">published</a> an article saying: </p><p></p><blockquote><p>The public release of ChatGPT last fall kicked off a wave of interest in artificial intelligence. A.I. models have since snaked their way into many people’s everyday lives. Despite their flaws, ChatGPT and other A.I. tools are helping people to save time at work, to code without knowing how to code, to make daily life easier or just to have fun.</p><p>It goes beyond everyday fiddling: In the last few years, companies and scholars have started to use A.I. to supercharge work they could never have imagined, designing new molecules with the help of an algorithm or building alien-like spaceship parts.</p><p>Here’s how 35 real people are using A.I. for work, life, play, and procrastination.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>The article then explained how AI has changed the lives of these 35 people and will change your life, too.</p><p>Last summer, we were <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/23/controversial-new-ai-app-allows-you-to-text-with-jesus-and-satan/" target="_blank">introduced</a> to a new AI-driven app titled "Talk With Jesus and Satan." </p><p>The New York Post said, "It’s not every day that the spiritual realm intersects with smartphone tech. But in the era of chatbots and AI, even the biblical figures aren’t immune."</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Welcome to the world of “Text With Jesus,” where you’re just a tap away from a conversation with the holy – and, for a price, the not-so-holy.</p><p>The Post noted that "the “Text With Jesus” app allows users to chat with an AI version of biblical figures including Jesus Christ and Satan.</p><p>By shelling out just $2.99/month, you can embark on a journey through some of the Bible’s more intricate dialogues, like Adam and Eve’s narrative or the dawn of humanity.</p><p>The devil is in the details: The app’s most controversial feature.</p><p>The app’s most controversial feature: is conversations with Satan himself.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Expectations can be deceiving, especially in the world of AI.</p><p>The creator of "Text With Jesus" was asked about why their Jesus is so "oddly mild in His responses on some touchy moral issues?" </p><p>The creator of the app acknowledged that Text With Jesus’s characters "tend to avoid taking offensive stances, instead taking an inclusive and tolerant line."</p><p>Their Jesus is not the real Jesus of the Bible.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>It is written in Matthew 24: 5, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”</p><p>And Jesus said this: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Not Deceived. </i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-75140112804073074882024-02-22T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-22T05:00:00.256-08:00"Christian Nationalism:" The Attack On Conservative Christians<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/god.png?w=2000&h=1126&crop=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="800" height="361" src="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/god.png?w=2000&h=1126&crop=1" width="640" /></a></div><br />Writing for The Federalist, Thomas Kelly says, "Last weekend, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rob-reiner-christian-nationalism-god-country-trailer-1235728186/" target="_blank">Rob Reiner’s</a> new documentary, '<a href="https://twitter.com/godcountrymovie" target="_blank">God & Country</a>,' debuted in theaters nationwide. The movie, which attempts to explain why Christian nationalism is a threat to democracy, uses a number of politically progressive self-identified Christians to attack politically conservative Christians. This line of attack — that Christian nationalism makes bad Christians — has been pushed by leftists and corporate media for some time now, and there is perhaps no one better at pushing the popular (but dishonest) narrative than sociologist Andrew Whitehead."<p></p><p>"Whitehead," he says, "a professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, is one of a cluster of aspiring public intellectuals and academics who cite a current or past affiliation with conservative evangelical Christianity to legitimize their arguments against that religion and subculture."</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cTQKmR6a9fw" width="320" youtube-src-id="cTQKmR6a9fw"></iframe></div><p>As a spiritual Christian revival sweeps across our college and university campuses, deception lurks in the shadows.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81EeiA5HvGL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="520" height="400" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81EeiA5HvGL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br />Kelly <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/20/why-the-christian-nationalism-bogeyman-is-based-on-lies/" target="_blank">says</a>, "In Whitehead's latest book, <i><a href="http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/american-idolatry/412521" target="_blank">American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church</a></i>, which was released toward the end of 2023, Whitehead takes aim at political and theological views he labels Christian nationalism. He confidently asserts that his beliefs “about the harmful nature of Christian nationalism [are grounded] in empirical, scholarly research” and that Christian nationalism makes its adherents bad Christians who struggle to serve Christians of different ethnicities and nationalities.<p></p><blockquote><p>Whitehead is not a nobody; he is an influential academic. His earlier work boasts accolades in academia, and Whitehead is busy promoting his thesis in corporate media outlets such as Time magazine. His book boasts blurbs from progressive Christian influencers like Jemar Tisby and Beth Allison Barr. Whitehead is even getting favorable coverage from generally reasonable Christian YouTube channels such as Inspiring Philosophy. Despite the flaws of his work, Whitehead’s arguments have found an audience.</p></blockquote><p>There's a lot of information in his article that debunks the current narrative about so-called "Christian Nationalists" and the truth about the matter, including this: </p><blockquote><p>"Whitehead writes that in 2021, “the unmarked graves of hundreds of Indigenous children were uncovered near a Christian boarding school in Saskatchewan, Canada. The graves contained close to eight hundred remains.” Whitehead argues that conservative Christians in the United States might follow a similar path, committing atrocities in the name of Christ."</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>However, there never was a mass grave found in Saskatchewan. The leader of the Cowessess First Nation, a Canadian indigenous nation near the residential school’s supposed mass grave, explicitly rejects the existence of a mass grave but does believe that ground-penetrating radar found potentially hundreds of unmarked graves. These potential unmarked graves may represent the rediscovery of an old Roman Catholic cemetery maintained by a religious order.</p></blockquote><p>Whitehead's claims have set in motion an ongoing attack on the Catholics by those who took Whitehead's claims as truthful.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1586132317768146944/hxY9Wf8C_400x400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="640" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1586132317768146944/hxY9Wf8C_400x400.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Kelly says, "Whitehead continues to use this false claim to promote his argument and even chooses to disseminate it further by publishing an excerpt of his book that begins with this falsehood in Red Letter Christians, a leftist Christian website."</p><blockquote><p>While lying about mass graves is probably the worst thing Whitehead does in his book, the most embarrassing part is his reliance on his own bad research, largely drawing from a book Whitehead wrote with sociologist Samuel Perry, whose website characterizes him as “among the nation’s leading experts on conservative Christianity and American politics.”</p></blockquote><p>Another example by Kelly:</p><blockquote><p>Whitehead thinks that black Christians generally have good political opinions and white Christians generally have bad political opinions. This is not a surprising opinion for a progressive to hold — the two groups do have big political differences! But racial political differences are nothing novel to hear about or publish about, so Whitehead chooses to argue that “Christian nationalism” causes different political beliefs among different groups.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>In fact, Whitehead is insistent on this point. He argues that Christian nationalism “makes us bad Christians” from the start of the book. Throughout the book, he starts adding more and more bad things that Christian nationalism supposedly causes. Then toward the end of the book, while he argues that Christian nationalism causes racism, he finally admits there’s no good evidence that Christian nationalism causes anything, writing that people who say that all this research is founded on mere correlations are right —“[t]his is true—many of these studies cannot (and do not) say that Christian nationalism ’causes’ one to be racist. … It does not matter whether Christian nationalism encourages us to become racist or whether those with racist beliefs are drawn toward Christian nationalism.”</p></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Kelly concludes: "I doubt the left-leaning audience for this book stays up wondering whether it’s OK for Christians sometimes to criticize the United States."</p><p>It’s a string of rhetorical questions meant to persuade the reader that the book — one that lies about mass graves and is based on shoddy research — is the result of careful scholarship and moral reflection rather than a partisan hack job. The only people who could take this book seriously are the people who want to be fooled by it.</p><p>I'll be talking more about "Christian Nationalism" today on the radio. Please join me. <a href="https://blog.faithandfreedom.us/p/radio.html" target="_blank">Here's how</a>. </p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-77862051062755997072024-02-21T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-21T05:00:00.145-08:00Are You A Christian Nationalist?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/e2f9168/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2667+0+0/resize/1290x860!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Fab%2F0a%2F2a2abf434b7a97b78dbda7db9e08%2F2023-0421-heritage-francis-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/e2f9168/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2667+0+0/resize/1290x860!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Fab%2F0a%2F2a2abf434b7a97b78dbda7db9e08%2F2023-0421-heritage-francis-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The press and the Left are obsessed with what they call "Christian Nationalism."<p></p><p>At every opportunity---and the opportunities are many---they cast the folks they call Christian Nationalists as a cult-like movement that supports Trump.</p><p>Yesterday, this was the first paragraph of a featured article by left-leaning Politico:</p><p>"An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO."</p><p>There's much to know about the attack on so-called "Christian Nationalism."</p><p>Please do not be deceived; be informed.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">What is a "Christian Nationalist?"</h3><p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/donald-trump-allies-christian-nationalism-00142086" target="_blank">Politico's</a> description parallels how the Left usually defines Christian Nationalists:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life. As the country has become less religious and more diverse, Vought has embraced the idea that Christians are under assault and has spoken of policies he might pursue in response.</p><p>One document drafted by CRA staff and fellows includes a list of top priorities for CRA in a second Trump term. “Christian nationalism” is one of the bullet points.</p><p>Two people familiar with the plans, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal matters, said that Vought hopes his proximity and regular contact with the former president — he and Trump speak at least once a month, according to one of the people — will elevate Christian nationalism as a focal point in a second Trump term.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>There's more. But if this is true, are we labeling Benjamin Franklin as a Christian Nationalist because he called for prayer---God's guidance ---when the framers of our Constitution were in such disagreement, Franklin reminded them that unless God builds the house, they that labor do so in vain? The Founders then began regular prayer---and our Constitution was birthed. The greatest document ever created by man.</p><p>Apparently, the Left---including the so-called "Christian Left" --- is focused on removing God from the United States because we now have citizens who don't believe in Him. So the "Christian Left" is carrying the water for the secular progressives who have no need for Him.</p><p>John Adams, also a Founding Father and former president, told the US military on October 11, 1798, that our Constitution was "made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." </p><p>So the anti-so-called Christian Nationalists want God out of the picture, and they apparently want the Constitution put on the back shelf of a warehouse near the Smithsonian, not actively guiding our country.</p><p>With God out of the picture and the Constitution irrelevant, they can elect a more perfect Joe Biden type and, as Barack Obama often said, "remake America."</p><p>The people who disagree with that plan are now being demonized as cult-like followers of Trump: Christian Nationalists.</p><p>What would our nation look like under secular "progressive' leadership?</p><p>Take a road trip and drive through cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. If you survive, then drive east to Chicago, Baltimore, and New York City---you know the list.</p><p>Be sure to include our southern border on your road trip.</p><p>That's what America looks like under so-called secular progressive leadership.</p><p>Politico then dives into the deep end: "The documents obtained by POLITICO do not outline specific Christian nationalist policies. But Vought has promoted a restrictionist immigration agenda, saying a person’s background doesn’t define who can enter the U.S., but rather, citing Biblical teachings, whether that person 'accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history.'”</p><p>The Bible is talking about assimilation. People once came to our country to have a better life. Under Leftist ideologies, many come because they hate America, and they seek to kill and destroy the greatest nation in the history of the world while living off the benefits of the country.</p><p>Politico explains that "Trump is not a devout man of faith. But Christian Nationalists have been among his most reliable campaign activists and voting blocs. Trump formed a political alliance with evangelicals during his first run for office, delivered them a six to three conservative majority on the Supreme Court and is now espousing the Christian right’s long-running argument that Christians are so severely persecuted that it necessitates a federal response."</p><p>They underline their warnings of the doom of God and country having any connection: "Trump is also talking about bringing his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a vocal proponent of Christian nationalism, back into office. Flynn is currently focused on recruiting what he calls an 'Army of God' — as he barnstorms the country promoting his vision of putting Christianity at the center of American life."</p><p>I'm reminded of Ronald Reagan's comment: "If we forget we are a nation under God, we will be a nation gone under."</p><p>Long before Reagan graced the White House, Founding Father Patrick Henry told his colleagues: "When people forget God, tyrants forge their chains."</p><p>The voices of the Left are the clanging of hammers forging the chains.</p><p>Politico further puts out this warning to America---the secular Left and the "Christian Left": </p><blockquote><p>The effort to imbue laws with biblical principles is already underway in some states. In Texas, Christian conservative supporters have pressured the legislature to require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom; targeted prohibitions on churches against direct policy advocacy, and organized campaigns around “culture war” issues, including curbing LGBTQ+ rights, banning books and opposing gun safety laws.</p></blockquote><p>They end their secularist manifesto against biblical Christianity with this:</p><blockquote><p>“There’s been a tectonic shift in how the leadership of the religious right operates,” said Matthew Taylor, a scholar at the Institute for Christian Jewish Studies, who grew up evangelical. “These folks aren’t as interested in democracy or working through democratic systems as in the old religious right because their theology is one of Christian warfare.”</p></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Daniel Webster, a second-generation leader in America---Christian, Statesman, Senator, and Patriot Leader- said this:</p><blockquote><p>"Hold on my friends to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what happened in 6000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world...If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity." </p></blockquote><p>Of our Founders, he reminded us that "they journeyed by it's [the Bible] light and labored in it's hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary.</p><blockquote><p>"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it."</p></blockquote><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-43523459923932017042024-02-20T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-20T05:00:00.352-08:00Putin Threatens Nuclear Attack If West Doesn't Back Off <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1757709122873532417/rMpDEUx2?format=jpg&name=medium" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1757709122873532417/rMpDEUx2?format=jpg&name=medium" width="640" /></a></div><br />We learned yesterday that a top Putin ally is threatening that he will use nuclear weapons if the West doesn't back off the Ukraine war.<p></p><p>They warn that striving for a Ukrainian victory would lead to nuclear strikes on “Kyiv, Berlin, London, Washington,” as well as an apocalyptic civil war in Russia with “tens of millions” dead.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">The threat</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/russian-security-council-deputy-chairman-73686516.jpg?w=1024" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="427" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/russian-security-council-deputy-chairman-73686516.jpg?w=1024" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, who was also formerly the Prime Minister and President of Russia in service to Vladimir Putin, has <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/02/19/russia-threatens-nukes-for-london-washington-if-it-loses-ukraine-war/" target="_blank">threatened</a> Western capitals with the “entire strategic arsenal” of Russian nuclear weapons. Medvedev, for whom absolutely no slight is too small to necessitate a nuclear response, was speaking of Ukraine’s hope to retake its U.N.-recognized national territory, which in some cases has been occupied by Russia for very close to ten years.</div><p>Russia has amended its constitution and now considers those areas — Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia — to be full parts of the Russian Republic. Attempting to push the borders back to where they were before will invite a massive retaliation, Medvedev said in his latest threat on Sunday, making clear he sees the Western states aiding Ukraine with arms as legitimate targets.</p><p>He says, "Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing. To a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state. In Kyiv, Berlin, London, and Washington.”</p><p>Claiming “beautiful historical places” would be destroyed by Russia’s nuclear weapons, Medvedev suggested it would be better for the forces trying to roll back Russia’s war against Ukraine should stand down “before it’s too late”</p><p>Medvedev continued, per Russian state media: “The direct and irreversible collapse of present-day Russia… a violent civil war with the final disappearance of our country from the world map. Tens of millions of victims. The death of our future. The collapse of everything in the world.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The response</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/76752914.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/76752914.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Some in the US are brushing off the remarks as intended to whip up more support from the domestic public in Russia who are generally growing weary of the war with Ukraine.</div><p>In the case of such unrest, Medvedev again warned the West that the disincentives for Russia launching its nuclear weapons would evaporate.</p><p><a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/18/world-news/putin-pal-threatens-armageddon-nuclear-attack-on-dc-and-london-if-russia-has-to-give-back-any-ukraine-territory/" target="_blank">The New York Post</a> said this on Sunday:</p><blockquote><p>A close ally of Vladimir Putin warned Sunday that Russia will launch Armageddon by nuking cities such as Washington and London if Moscow is forced to give up Ukrainian territory it has taken over, according to reports.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Dmitry Medvedev, deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council and a former Russian president and prime minister, threatened that the US and its allies would pay the ultimate price if Russia is forced to retreat.</p></blockquote><p>“Attempts to restore Russia’s 1991 borders will lead only to one thing — a global war with Western countries with the use of our entire strategic (nuclear) arsenal against Kyiv, Berlin, London, and Washington. And against all other beautiful historic places that have long been included in the flight targets of our nuclear triad,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram.</p><p>He has made threats like these before, but who but God Himself really knows the heart and mind of Putin? </p><p>It's ironic that during a conference in Munich, Germany, Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2024/02/18/blinken-asks-for-chinas-and-indias-help-to-stop-russian-nuclear-space-weapon-n2635402" target="_blank">spoke</a> with Chinese and Indian counterparts about the possibility of a nuclear weapon orbiting in space that is targeting U.S. satellites. </p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/14/us/politics/intelligence-russia-nuclear.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, the detonation of the nuclear weapon would harm Chinese and Indian satellites, resulting in “disconnection” and global communications failure. </p><p>The deployment of nuclear weapons would destroy emergency services to cell phones and the regulation of generators and petrol pumps to stop working. Debris from the nuclear explosion would also make its way into Earth’s orbit, making navigation nearly impossible for things such as Starlink satellites used for Internet communications and spy satellites.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2023/285/7bdc1a90-84cb-4e76-896b-d41f34e01ca7-1052x615.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="800" height="374" src="https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2023/285/7bdc1a90-84cb-4e76-896b-d41f34e01ca7-1052x615.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Blinken said on Saturday that Russia’s potential use of a nuclear weapon in space poses a significant national security threat.</p><p>The New York Times said this:</p><blockquote><p>"Putting a nuclear weapon in space is in violation of an over 50-year treaty that has so far stopped the proliferation of weapons into the region. Besides telecommunications concerns, Blinken also warned that debris from the possible nuclear explosions would pose a threat to low-earth orbit navigation, putting further satellite operations at risk. Blinken spoke with the two officials, believing that Russia would be more likely to listen to them than the U.S. due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s disdain for the country. Russia has been conducting military satellite launches since early 2022, when the invasion of Ukraine first began.</p></blockquote><p>The Times concludes that if Putin or anyone else would violate the 50-year-old agreement to not put nuclear weapons in space, everything would change.</p><p>"Ending the Space Treaty could open the floodgates for other countries to put nuclear weapons in space as well,” said Steven Andreasen, a nuclear expert at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs in Minneapolis. “Once you have orbital nuclear weapons, you can use them for more than taking out satellites.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Rasmussen <a href="https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/biden_administration/iran_two_thirds_see_war_risk_for_u_s?utm_campaign=RR02192024DN&utm_source=criticalimpact&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">published</a> a new survey yesterday in which they found a plurality of voters think President Joe Biden hasn’t been aggressive enough in his dealings with Iran, and two-thirds think the current situation could lead to war.</p><p>It found that 66% of likely U.S. voters believe increasing tensions in the Middle East between Iran and the United States will likely lead to war, including 24% who see such a war as very likely. Twenty-four percent (24%) don’t think war with Iran is likely. </p><p>Now, there's this matter with Russia.</p><p>Should there be a war, does the United States have leadership capable of defending us against the enemy?</p><p>Isaiah 12:2, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”</p><p>Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant, Be Engaged. Be not Afraid. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-81665019777257522982024-02-19T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-19T05:00:00.127-08:00NBC News Attempts to Shoot Down Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CharlieKirkTUPSAPivotsToJesus.jpg?w=1581&h=1054&crop=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CharlieKirkTUPSAPivotsToJesus.jpg?w=1581&h=1054&crop=1" width="640" /></a></div><br />In a feature story yesterday, NBC News begins, "For more than a year, Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and MAGA influencer, was aimed like a heat-seeking missile toward one goal — ousting Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel."<p></p><p>NBC continues, "It’s a battle he won. Just this week, former President Donald Trump endorsed a new slate of leaders to head the party apparatus and signaled that McDaniel’s four terms would soon come to an end."</p><p>Then, they launched their own "heat-seeking " missile.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/charlie-kirk-ronna-mcdaniel-rnc-trump-rcna139288" target="_blank">NBC News</a> says, "Few Republican groups have had as meteoric a rise as Kirk’s Turning Point USA, which launched in 2012. It sought to activate young conservatives and saw its fortunes grow as it attached itself to the Trump movement in 2016. The organization has raised roughly a quarter-billion dollars since, as The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-trump-turning-point-maga-d08a98e439fa4e902cb756d7e35153db" target="_blank">reported</a> last fall, with its fundraising exploding during the Covid pandemic."</p><p>Then NBC pivots and tells their listeners, "But the RNC effort has Kirk increasingly under the microscope in Trump's world. In recent weeks, at least three people, including McDaniel herself, have privately warned Trump about Kirk’s conduct, seven sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News."</p><p>NBC is picking up a story that <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/02/16/sharp_elbows_even_sharper_knives_in_trump_inner_sanctums_150519.html" target="_blank">Real Clear Politics</a> first published last Thursday---February 16.</p><p>RCP said, "Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012 and quickly turned the nonprofit into a quasi-party apparatus, raising more than a reported quarter of a billion dollars, cultivating an army of young conservative influencers and delivering a jolt of youth and energy into the once-staid Republican Party. The main beneficiary of these efforts has been Kirk’s greatest ally: former President Donald Trump."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/f63dfef/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4997x3331+0+0/resize/1440x960!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F74%2F71%2F9cacde5e559b3a0323e71217cdf9%2F5e9c27283504429b909712f63ba08651" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/f63dfef/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4997x3331+0+0/resize/1440x960!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F74%2F71%2F9cacde5e559b3a0323e71217cdf9%2F5e9c27283504429b909712f63ba08651" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>"But success has not inoculated Kirk from criticism, even from Trump himself. Kirk has also become a target of Republicans who are jealous of his ascendance into the MAGA stratosphere, resentful of his scheming against them, or just alarmed by his fiery rhetoric. Outgoing RNC chairman Ronna McDaniel, some would say, fits all three of those categories."</p><p>RCP and NBC then shifted their storylines to drive a wedge between Trump and Kirk while launching their own heat-seeking missile to do damage to Trump, Kirk, and conservatives in general leading up to the 2024 presidential election.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">How RNC leader Ronna McDaniel lost favor with Trump.</h3><p>By mid-November, CNBC reported that Trump had “soured” on McDaniel. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon called for her to be replaced. In an early December podcast, Charlie Kirk went further – much further.</p><p>NBC's news channel <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/13/trump-sours-on-rnc-chair-ronna-mcdaniel-after-gop-losses.html" target="_blank">MSNBC</a> says Kirk called McDaniel a loser questioning her abilities and loyalty to the Republican agenda---wondering if she was trying to make sure that we lose in 2024?</p><p>He said, "I’m telling President Trump privately and publicly he’d better remove her. Does Ronna Romney want Donald Trump in prison? I really think she’s an infiltration at this point.”</p><p>On Feb. 4, the former president was asked on Fox News’ Sunday morning program to assess McDaniel’s job performance.</p><p>Trump said, "I think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did okay, initially in the RNC, I would say right now there’ll probably be some changes made.”</p><p>By the next day, McDaniel was in Mar-a-Lago meeting with the president and top Trump adviser Susie Wiles.</p><p>As you probably know, McDaniel is now leaving her position.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106789710-1605012653625-gettyimages-1229557675-rnc_presser763_110920.jpeg?v=1699915607&w=740&h=416&ffmt=webp&vtcrop=y" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="740" height="360" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/106789710-1605012653625-gettyimages-1229557675-rnc_presser763_110920.jpeg?v=1699915607&w=740&h=416&ffmt=webp&vtcrop=y" width="640" /></a></div><p>Kirk was not the only one who had questions about McDaniel---but the mainstream media is pretty much giving him credit for her leaving to further their attempt to undermine Kirk and his organization, which is strongly Christian faith-based.</p><p>Kirk has challenged the Diversity Equity Inclusion movement, bluntly pointing out its damage to our culture and corporate America.</p><p>Conservatives are calling for unity. The Left is unified around disposing of Trump.</p><p>The media and the press are unified in taking Trump out of the presidential picture in 2024 and are more than willing to do whatever is necessary. The attack on Trump by Biden's Department of Justice and others is clear evidence of those attempts.</p><p>If Charley Kirk gets in the way during the process, that's his problem in the mind of the Leftists. And because he is a problem for the Left, he needs to be taken out of the equation.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is there really a rift between Trump and Kirk? </h3><p>According to the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., the answer is "No."</p><p>The younger Trump said Kirk remains very much on the inside while dismissing any possible rift. “This is nothing more than fiction coming from people jealous of the close relationship Charlie has built with our family,” Trump Jr. told RealClearPolitics. “He is in great standing with both my father and the entire Trump campaign.”</p><p>Trump Jr. also noted that Kirk spoke at a recent Las Vegas conference featuring the younger Trump, “which should show just how silly these false attacks on him really are.” Added the former president’s son, “It’s sad that there are some people attempting to increase their own relevancy by manufacturing lies that Charlie is on the outs. Nothing could be further from the truth.”</p><p>Another highly-placed Trump source told RCP, “What’s true is that Ronna attempted to knife Charlie, but no one of importance in Trump’s orbit bought the knifing.”</p><p>Kirk was among the first to float Lara Trump as the next RNC chair in an interview with the New York Times. The former president may have taken the advice. He nominated Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina GOP, to replace McDaniel as national chair last week and then nominated his daughter-in-law to be co-chair.</p><p>As for Charlie Kirk and the noise of the battle: “We are just going to ignore the noise. We know that our focus and emphasis on RNC leadership comes at a price...but we’re just going to keep building.”</p><p>So what is he building? </p><p>His latest goal is a $108 million get-out-the-vote campaign via TPUSA’s political arm in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin to swing the election.</p><p>Kirk addressed some concerns in the RNC about his ambitious plan. </p><p>He says, “Everything we do is additive.” Turning Point USA has not yet raised the $108 million, but Kirk says that by April, his organization “will be able to celebrate” having as many as 600 full-time “ballot chasers” in battleground states. He said the goal was “to do what the RNC should have been doing for quite some time.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is Charlie Kirk a stepping stone or a stumbling block?</h3><p>God has blessed Charlie's efforts. With a presence on over 3,500 high school and college campuses nationwide, over 250,000 student members, and over 450 full- and part-time staff all across the country, Turning Point USA is the largest and fastest-growing conservative youth activist organization in the country. At just 28 years old, Charlie has appeared on Fox News, FOX Business News, and CNBC over a thousand times.</p><p>The media is determined to bring him down.</p><p>Example: <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/charlie-kirk-turning-point-usa-pivots-to-christian-nationalism-1234740083/" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> took on Charlie last year: "Charlie Kirk’s ‘Turning Point’ Pivots to Christian Nationalism." </p><p>"The organization founded to promote the free market," they say, "sure is spending a lot of time promoting attacks on the separation of church and state."</p><p>Some pastors nationwide are joining the media, and others are supporting Kirk.</p><p>I support him. And others like him, who are biblically based in their worldview.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RealJackHibbs/videos/874451489842469/" target="_blank">video</a> on Facebook with Charlie and three pastors, including Pastor Jack Hibbs, explains his goal of advancing the idea of" Liberty and Faith."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rHBKHKORoho" width="320" youtube-src-id="rHBKHKORoho"></iframe></div><p>In this ministry, I call it "Faith and Freedom."</p><p>These are perilous times.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-80856870731966591462024-02-15T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-15T05:00:00.131-08:00Election Interference? Maybe Trump Is Right<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2023/11/Joe-Biden-1-640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2023/11/Joe-Biden-1-640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />We are learning this week that three separate prosecutors reportedly met with White House aides before indicting former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden’s political opponent.<p></p><p>The reported meetings suggest a coordinated attack against Biden’s 2024 political rival. </p><p>If coordination occurred, it certainly lends credence to Trump’s belief that the indictments are election interference.</p><p>Here's what we learned yesterday.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>The timing of the indictments against Trump has always seemed odd. Peculiar.</p><p>After Trump announced a reelection bid against Biden, four indictments hit Trump in four separate jurisdictions, each following revelations about the Biden family business.</p><p>Breitbart News is <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/02/14/prosecutors-reportedly-met-with-biden-admin-before-3-trump-indictments/" target="_blank">reporting</a> this:</p><p>In three cases, prosecutors reportedly met with the Biden administration before indicting Trump:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Alvin Bragg: New York – <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/manhattan-das-office-asked-meeting-law-enforcement-possible-trump-indictment" target="_blank">“Stormy Daniels” Case</a> (state)</li><li>Jack Smith: Miami – <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/08/28/visitor-logs-bidens-legal-team-met-jack-smith-aide-before-trump-doc-indictment/" target="_blank">“Documents” Case</a> (federal)</li><li>Fani Willis: <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/09/she-profited-donald-trump-rips-fani-willis-as-compromised-after-alleged-lover-corruption/" target="_blank">Fulton County, Georgia</a> (state)</li></ol><h3 style="text-align: left;">First Case: “Stormy Daniels”</h3><div><br /></div><div>The first indictment occurred on April 4, 2023, the same day that former Biden aide Kathy Chung testified about Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, contradicting Biden’s version of events.</div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/09/1440/810/GettyImages-1243047120.jpg?ve=1&tl=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/09/1440/810/GettyImages-1243047120.jpg?ve=1&tl=1" width="640" /></a></div><p>On March 17, 2023, Bragg asked for a meeting with federal law enforcement ahead of the Trump indictment Trump, a court source told Fox News. A year earlier, Bragg’s office hired a former senior Department of Justice (DOJ) official, Matthew Colangelo, who spent years targeting Trump at the Justice Department. He also attacked Trump in his role in the New York Attorney General’s office.</p><p>"Bragg has been very discredited by the indictment because the people that read it, even Democrats—they’re saying this is not an indictment,” Trump exclusively told Breitbart News after the indictment.</p><blockquote><p>Some are saying this is unconstitutional because there’s no crime. He’s been absolutely discredited. It’s a shame. They’re willing to destroy our country. This is all run by the White House, by the way, just in case you have any questions. In fact, they put a man from the White House into one of the top White House/DOJ officials is right there—Matthew Colangelo. He’s the one that’s leading it. He was sitting in the front row in the court during the whole thing. He was in the front row. This is all done by the White House because they don’t want to run against us.</p></blockquote><h3 style="text-align: left;">Second Case: “Documents”</h3><p>Smith filed the second indictment on June 8, 2023, the same day an FBI 10-23 form surfaced alleging Joe Biden was bribed $5 million. Later in June, Smith filed a superseding indictment in the case the day after Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal in Delaware fell apart.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2023/08/the-White-House-1-1-640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://media.breitbart.com/media/2023/08/the-White-House-1-1-640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Months prior, in March, a member of Biden’s counsel’s office met with a top member of Smith’s team, just nine weeks before he indicted Trump in the classified document case. </p><p>The meeting “raises obvious concerns about visits to the White House after [Bratt] began his work with the special counsel,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/26/biden-staffers-met-with-special-counsel-jack-smiths-aides-before-trump-indictment/" target="_blank">told</a> the New York Post. “There is no reason why the Justice Department should not be able to confirm whether this meeting was related to the ongoing investigation or concerns some other matter.”</p><p>Trump slammed the indictment as election interference. Biden does not want to “run” against him, Trump said. “They didn’t want to run against me. That’s why they did it,” he said.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Third Case: Georgia Case</h3><p>Willis filed the third indictment against Trump on August 14, 2023. The official court website of Fulton County, Georgia, published what appeared to be an indictment against Trump before deleting it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ajc.com/resizer/qRCiCBw0gh3Dty5BLFx-t0ZuMCg=/850x480/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ajc/ZVTM6V3LGT4YKHYN5SPPZB6XPQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="800" height="362" src="https://www.ajc.com/resizer/qRCiCBw0gh3Dty5BLFx-t0ZuMCg=/850x480/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/ajc/ZVTM6V3LGT4YKHYN5SPPZB6XPQ.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Months before the indictment, Willis’ top county prosecutor <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/breaking-filing-alleges-improper-relationship-between-fulton-da-top-trump-prosecutor/A2N2OWCM7FFWJBQH2ORAK2BKMQ/" target="_blank">met twice</a> with Biden’s White House counsel on May 23 and November 18, 2022, a year before Trump’s August indictment. </p><p>Willis’ prosecutor reportedly charged Fulton County taxpayers $2,000 for each meeting, billing $250 an hour for eight hours. Neither Willis nor the prosecutor dispute the allegations, but a spokesperson for Willis’s office <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/09/filing-fani-willis-s-alleged-lover-top-prosecutor-met-twice-biden-white-house-lawyer-before-indicting-trump/" target="_blank">told</a> the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she would later respond in court filings.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><div>In January, <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4397766-trump-georgia-case-totally-compromised-after-allegations-against-fani-willis/" target="_blank">The Hill</a> said, "Former President Trump on Tuesday insisted the case against him and several others in Georgia over efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results should be dropped after another defendant filed a motion accusing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) of improper behavior.</div><p></p><blockquote><p>“You had a very big event yesterday as you saw in Georgia where the district attorney is totally compromised. The case has to be dropped,” Trump said after a hearing in Washington, D.C., over presidential immunity arguments in a separate, federal 2020 election interference case against him. “They went after 18 or 20 people. … She was out of her mind. Now it turns out that case is totally compromised.”</p><p>“It’s illegal. What she did is illegal. So we’ll let the state handle that, but what a sad situation it is,” Trump added.</p><p>Mike Roman, a Philadelphia-based political operative who served as Trump’s director of Election Day operations on his 2020 campaign and faces seven criminal charges, claimed in court filings Monday that Willis and a top prosecutor in the case are engaged in an “improper” romantic relationship, making the indictment “fatally defective.”</p></blockquote><p></p><p>"Oh, what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive" is a very "Shakespearean" phrase; however, it is not from Shakespeare. It comes from an early nineteenth-century Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott, a best-selling writer of novels, plays, and poems.</p><p>Like so many of Shakespeare’s lasting observations, it’s a beautifully expressed aphorism that uses just a few words to describe one life experience so perfectly and is so true that it enters into the English language and becomes one of its most powerful idioms. </p><p>"Oh, what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive" means that when you lie or act dishonestly, you initiate problems and a domino structure of complications that eventually run out of control.</p><p>The organized attempts to keep Trump off the ticket in November are out of control.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-43332221894090659232024-02-14T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-14T05:00:00.134-08:00"He Gets Us" ---But Do We Get Him?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/94BqlDQ-Ppo/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/94BqlDQ-Ppo/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />"He Gets Us” is spending upwards of a billion dollars on an advertising campaign to expose millions of people, including those who tuned in to the 2023 Super Bowl, to Jesus. Is the attempt to win over the world with a modernized version of Christ succeeding?<p></p><p>The first commercial flipped through a series of black-and-white photos of children helping others in need. The 30-second clip ended with the tagline, “Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults,” referencing Christ’s teaching about childlike faith in Matthew 18.</p><p>When I first began seeing the ads, I wondered what the intent and message were.</p><p>Is the billion-dollar budget actually reaching people with the message of the Gospel?</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">I get it.</h3><p>I'm not questioning the motive of the investors. I've been told David Green, the founder of Hobby Lobby, is one of them, and he has certainly shown himself to be all-in in his giving to the Lord's work.</p><p>He and Hobby Lobby have never blinked when faced with opposition to his biblical beliefs when some other Christian-owned companies have caved. </p><p>He has stood strong for marriage, life, and other biblical values.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/media/2020/08/19/USATODAY/usatsports/247WallSt.com-247WS-729976-David-Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/media/2020/08/19/USATODAY/usatsports/247WallSt.com-247WS-729976-David-Green.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2022/10/27/hobby-lobby-founder-giving-away-company-wealth/10613377002/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported in 2022: "Hobby Lobby founder David Green announced through an Oct. 21 op-ed at Fox News that he's giving up his company and that he 'chose God' over wealth." </p><p></p><blockquote><p>Green credited his faith and higher power as the "true source" of his success, noting that "God was the true owner of my business," and felt that passing the company down to his children and grandchildren would've been the wrong move. </p><p>"As an owner, there are certain rights and responsibilities, including the right to sell the company and keep the profits for yourself and your family," Green wrote. "As our company grew, that idea began to bother me more and more. Well-meaning attorneys and accountants advised me to simply pass ownership down to my children and grandchildren. It didn’t seem fair to me that I might change or even ruin the future of grandchildren who had not even been born yet.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>He said, "When I realized that I was just a steward, it was easy to give away my ownership." </p><p>His net worth is $14 billion, according to Forbes.</p><p>Green said, "Wealth can be a curse and, in most cases, if you drill down on it, wealth is a curse in terms of marriage, children, and things of that nature. So we’re stewarding our company and, therefore, our children come to work, and they get what they earn."</p><p>As you know, Hobby Lobby has often been intermeshed with national religious news over the last few decades under Green, most recently during the pandemic in 2020 when he opted to leave stores open during COVID-19 risk because everything was "in God's control."</p><p>He has also taken a strong biblical stand for Life and for marriage.</p><p>So---he's a good man who is committed to doing the Lord's work and the Lord's will.</p><p>I will assume the other "He Gets Us" investors mean well. </p><p>If so, I get their motives.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What about the method?</h3><p>Jordon Boyd, in an <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/13/he-gets-us-ad-reactions-prove-changing-the-gospel-doesnt-change-hearts/" target="_blank">article</a> published in The Federalist last year just after the Super Super Bowl, wrote, "'He Gets Us'" is spending upwards of a billion dollars on an advertising campaign to expose millions of people, including those who tuned in to the Super Bowl, to Jesus. But its attempt to win over the world with a modernized version of Christ failed to endear some of those it sought to engage."</p><p>She said, "Instead of transforming the life of Jesus to fit our culture, let’s tell the full story of Jesus — offensive and glorious as it is — to the watching world and see how it transforms them."</p><p>Jordon flipped through a series of black-and-white photos of children helping others in need from last year's campaign. The 30-second clip ended with the tagline “Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults,” referencing Christ’s teaching about childlike faith in Matthew 18.</p><p>The other ads were essentially the same, i.e., “If I could see the world through the eyes of a child, what a wonderful world this would be,” the song narrated.</p><p>This year's Super Bowl ads were similar.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What I don't get.</h3><p>According to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/2024/02/11/he-gets-us-super-bowl-commercials-jesus/72562492007/" target="_blank">USA Today</a>, "The 'He Gets Us' <a href="https://hegetsus.com/en/articles/he-gets-us-has-an-agenda" target="_blank">website</a> says, 'Let us be clear in our opinion. Jesus loves gay people and Jesus loves trans people. The LGBTQ+ community, like all people, is invited to explore the story of Jesus'."</p><p>USA Today continues: "In 2023, Hobby Lobby founder David Green told talk show host Glenn Beck that his family was helping fund the Super Bowl 57 ads."</p><blockquote><p>Green and Hobby Lobby won a significant victory in 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby and other “closely held corporations” could continue to deny providing health insurance coverage for some or all forms of birth control based on religious objections. The ruling affected more than 60 million American workers.</p></blockquote><p>These commercials offer the vaguest and most inoffensive and uncontroversial picture of Jesus possible, even to people who already have a distaste for Christianity. In fact, they are part of a larger campaign known for making radical comparisons between Jesus and the U.S. border crisis, which is harnessed by corrupt cartels for profit and bold conflations of Jesus and his disciples with groups who roam the streets today, “challenging authority” and “making a lot of people uneasy,” in an attempt to appeal to current culture.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://content.hegetsus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Headline-1-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="171" data-original-width="800" height="137" src="https://content.hegetsus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Headline-1-2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Graphic from the "He Gets Us" website.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>"He Gets Us" was born out of the idea that the Christians of today are not good enough at marketing Jesus. After all, an alarming number of Americans are abandoning the church.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p></p><blockquote><p>Anyone who reads his Bible knows our society will never welcome the Good News with open arms. That’s because the Gospel, in its truest form, is offensive to the world. It announces unequivocally that every person is a sinner who deserves death and that even the so-called good works we do are tainted by self-interest and are filthy in the eyes of a holy God. It tells of a loving Father who gave up his only Son Jesus to live a perfect life and die the most brutal death imaginable as a sacrifice for the same sort of people who murdered Him. It proclaims that this Jesus miraculously rose from the grave, and it demands that anyone who follows Him must lay down his own comfort and desires and even his very life every single day.</p><p>Nothing about this offensive message conforms to our culture. In fact, the written Word of God demands that we “do not conform to the pattern of this world.”</p><p>There is nothing wrong with bringing Jesus to the masses — it’s what we’re commanded to do — but we have to do it well.</p><p>Jesus wasn’t “only human after all,” as the song in the first He Gets Us campaign suggested. He was fully human and fully God, and Scripture tells us it’s only because of this glorious truth that Jesus was qualified to be our Savior.</p><p>Jesus’ mission from God to die for the sins of the world cannot be reduced to a few choice words he said. We care about what Jesus said, but we can’t separate that from what He did. Jesus didn’t just preach love your neighbor or love your enemies or have childlike faith. He rebuked sin, cast out demons, and promised eternal life for those who repent.</p><p>That alone is great news that doesn’t need editorializing or tweaking or watering down. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.”</p></blockquote><p></p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-52988578553199711552024-02-13T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-13T05:00:00.150-08:00No Prayer At Prosser, WA School Board Meetings?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/l1kyts/picture226808889/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1140/1-MAIN--prosser%20high" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/l1kyts/picture226808889/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1140/1-MAIN--prosser%20high" width="640" /></a></div><br />A suggestion that the Prosser School Board should open its meetings with prayer has resulted in student objections and threats of legal action from a national atheist organization.<p></p><p>During a meeting recently, board member Frank Vermulm randomly brought up the topic of starting their meetings with a prayer after the Pledge of Allegiance. He suggested he or a pastor could lead the prayers and cited “a lot of issues” that the community and school district are facing.</p><p>Evil never takes a day off.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">Students object to "prayer" in school board meetings.</h3><p>“I just think we could use some divine intervention,” Vermulm <a href="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/article284972497.html" target="_blank">told</a> his fellow school board members, a town located in central Washington State.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kXYnbW3pKU8" width="320" youtube-src-id="kXYnbW3pKU8"></iframe></div><p><a href="https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/education/article284972497.html" target="_blank">The Tri-City Herald</a> reported, "While other <a href="https://www.prosserschools.org/page/board-of-directors" target="_blank">school board members</a> expressed interest in discussing the issue further, the board’s student representatives pushed back. 'I don’t think that religion should be brought up in schools at all. I don’t think that should happen,' said student representative Yoshimi Garcia. She described herself as an atheist and said it would be disrespectful to people who come from different religious backgrounds."</p><p>Those kinds of narcissistic comments always cause me to wonder if she is aware that her anti-Christian rhetoric is also "disrespectful" to people who believe in God and the Bible?</p><p>I don't wonder for very long because I know the answer. It's no.</p><p>“I would tend to agree,” said another student representative, Noah Dempsey. “I think that that should be something that’s excluded. I mean, there’s already enough controversy when it comes to saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Why bring more controversy into something that doesn’t need it?”</p><p>That comment reminds me of something Abraham Lincoln once said: "The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next."</p><p>This incident is a snapshot of that fact in progress. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Atheists join the students.</h3><p>The atheist group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, also set its sights on the Prosser School Board.</p><p>Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Wisconsin-based organization, <a href="https://www.faithwire.com/2024/02/05/students-up-in-arms-after-board-member-calls-for-prayer-at-meetings-it-would-be-very-helpful/" target="_blank">said</a>, “Our public schools are paid for by anybody and everybody, including those with no religion,” adding that opening meetings with prayer sends a “disrespectful signal” toward students.</p><p>She warned the FFRF would consider a lawsuit if the school board moves forward with the prayer idea.</p><p>“We hope that the students’ perspective has caused the board to permanently reconsider its unlawful prayer plan,” she said. “School board members are free to pray on their own time and dime, but should not misuse their civil authority to impose prayer on others.”</p><p>The FFRF first reached out to the Prosser School Board on Jan. 25 with a letter from staff attorney Chris Line, who argued the U.S. Supreme Court has routinely struck down instances of prayer at school-sanctioned events because it constitutes “government favoritism towards religion.”</p><p>Freedom From Religion Foundation has a history of threatening schools and school boards with lawsuits, knowing most schools cave under the pressure of the "threatening letter," and they win without the cost of going to court.</p><p>However, sometimes, people of faith take a stand.</p><p>You remember that Washington state high school football coach Joe Kennedy won his case with the high court in 2022. After a seven-year legal battle, the coach was victorious when the Supreme Court Justices ruled he had the constitutionally protected right to pray on the field.</p><p>You may not remember that at that time, Laurie Gaylor called Kennedy’s claim that he prayed alone at the 50-yard line “phony” and “dishonest.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">RE: Laurie Gaylor's husband, Dan Barker.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://ffrf.org/images/images/Annie-Laurie-Gaylor-Dan-Barker-co-presidents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="450" height="458" src="https://ffrf.org/images/images/Annie-Laurie-Gaylor-Dan-Barker-co-presidents.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>1. Dan became a teenage evangelist at age 15.</b> At 16, he was choir librarian for faith-healer Kathryn Kuhlman’s Los Angeles appearances. He received a degree in Religion from Azusa Pacific University and was ordained to the ministry by the Standard Community Church in California in 1975. He served as associate pastor in three California churches: Arcadia Friend’s Church (Quaker), Glengrove Assembly of God (Hacienda Heights), and Standard Christian Center, an independent church loosely affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ tradition) in Standard, California. Dan was a Protestant missionary in Mexico for a total of two years.</div><p><b>2. Dan preached for 19 years. </b>He maintained an ongoing touring musical ministry, including eight years of full-time, cross-country evangelism. An accomplished pianist, record producer, arranger, and songwriter, he worked with Christian music companies such as Manna Music and Word Music. Dan wrote and produced the annual “Mini Musicale” for Gospel Light Publications’ Vacation Bible School curriculum for a few years.</p><p><b>3. For more than two decades, Dan was accompanist, arranger, and record producer for Manuel Bonilla, the leading Christian singer in the Spanish-speaking world.</b> He accompanied on the piano such Christian personalities as Pat Boone, Jimmy Roberts (of the Lawrence Welk Show), and gospel songwriter Audrey Meier, and was a regular guest on Southern California’s “Praise The Lord” TV show (Spanish). One of Dan’s Christian songs, “There Is One,” was performed by Rev. Robert Schuller’s television choir on the “Hour of Power” broadcast. To this day, he receives royalties from his popular children’s Christian musicals, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1977) and “His Fleece Was White As Snow” (1978), both published by Manna Music and performed in many countries.</p><p>4. <b>According to his biography, Dan gradually outgrew his religious beliefs</b> after five years of reading. “If I had limited myself to Christian authors, I’d still be a Christian today,” Dan says. “I just lost faith in faith.” He announced his atheism publicly in January 1984. He tells his story in the books Losing Faith in Faith (1992) and Godless (2008).</p><p>During my years of ministry in Los Angeles, I crossed paths with Dan in city-wide events sponsored by the evangelical churches as an outreach to the city. </p><p>He is, indeed, an outstanding musician. </p><p>He and his wife are now fighting against the God he once served.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Prosser School District Superintended Kim Casey offered a brief response to the FFRF: “We are in receipt of your letter. We have not taken any action on this matter; it was strictly a discussion.”</p><p>The spiritual war rages on.</p><p>Remember, "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world."</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Engaged. Be Faithful. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-87784304904332472012024-02-12T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-12T05:00:00.165-08:00RE: Abraham Lincoln<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/02/GettyImages-177602038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="800" height="333" src="https://first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com/live_files/2024/02/GettyImages-177602038.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Undoubtedly, Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest U.S. Presidents of all time.<p></p><p>Today is his birthday.</p><p>However, his birthday is celebrated by only a few in our nation.</p><p>If he were president today, how would he address the burning issues of our day?"</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">How Lincoln Lost His Birthday</h3><p>There were <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/how-abraham-lincoln-lost-his-birthday-holiday-2" target="_blank">efforts</a> right after Lincoln’s death to get this birthday---February 12--- recognized as a holiday, but there has never been a federal Lincoln birthday holiday.</p><p>Currently, the Lincoln holiday is celebrated unofficially nationwide as part of what many states call Presidents’ Day, which falls on the third Monday of February. Just a few states celebrate the actual Lincoln birthday on its date. Technically, the federal Presidents’ Day commemorates George Washington’s observed birthday: There is no national holiday called Presidents’ Day---although we use the term.</p><p>The third Monday in February is the date designated for the federal Washington’s Birthday holiday under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971.</p><p>So on February 12, Lincoln’s real birthday, his life and work go pretty much unnoticed, with a few exceptions: There are a few celebrations on a state level, along with a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. There is also a wreath ceremony at Lincoln’s birthplace in Kentucky.</p><p>By 1890, Lincoln’s birthday was observed as a paid holiday in 10 states. According to one blog that tracks the holiday, in 1940, 24 states and the District of Columbia observed Lincoln’s Birthday.</p><p>Now, after the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was passed in 1971 and states moved toward considering the federal Washington birthday holiday as Presidents’ Day, just a handful of states honor Lincoln directly. The states currently having Lincoln-birthday holidays on February 12 include Illinois (Lincoln’s adopted home state), California, Connecticut, Missouri, and New York.</p><p>There have been several attempts in Congress to get Lincoln his own national holiday, but none have succeeded. Now, more states celebrate Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) than Lincoln’s birthday. In fact, as of 2019, 18 states, not including Indiana, have days off for state employees for Black Friday. Another 10 states give their employees the day off for Good Friday, and five states recognize December 26 as a holiday.</p><p>Although it may seem odd that Indiana and New Mexico honor Lincoln on the day after Thanksgiving, President Lincoln issued the proclamation in 1863 that officially set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lincoln's story. </h3><p>It's true that his is the story of a little boy who grew up in poverty and rural isolation—without education, who lost his mother at age 9, and who almost died several times—and yet who became the most admired and revered of Americans.</p><p>Historians and the general public regularly rank Abraham Lincoln as America’s greatest president. There is little doubt that he is widely admired for his work to end slavery and preserve the Union.</p><p>But beyond these two important points, most Americans know little else about <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/02/01/igniting-an-appreciation-for-abraham-lincoln-in-children/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=ODI0LU1IVC0zMDQAAAGRMbX55V6URLBYDSJ4q1lhIlnkUB3-T6q9Us9dj_V019gmL1MvudwT-X2QFnHAYOPFhIm4PgRHrX6STeOdYL1IWj_HxnSJzasv7YHbbOZHCp6y3Vc" target="_blank">Lincoln’s life</a>.</p><p>A poll by "Participant" found that two-thirds of Americans admitted to knowing “little to nothing” about him. Eighty-three percent of respondents thought that the Emancipation Proclamation freed all the slaves in the United States. (It only freed the slaves in areas under Confederate control.) Another 40% believed that Lincoln was a Democrat. (Google only confuses matters when it lists his party affiliation as “National Union Party,” which was a temporary rebranding of the Republican Party during the 1864 presidential election.) In fact, Lincoln was the first Republican to be elected president.</p><p>Lincoln was, perhaps, the most successful President that the United States of America ever had. He saved the United States, helped to abolish slavery, and spoke some of the most memorable words in U.S. history, including the Gettysburg Address. Survey after survey on presidents put him at the very top or near the top.</p><p> I’d call that success. But history shows that he also had his share of failures. </p><p>Consider the following:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>He was defeated for Illinois state legislator in 1832.</li><li>He started a business only to see it go under. It was a store in New Salem, Illinois. His partner died, and he could not sustain the business. He eventually paid off all of the business’s debts.</li><li>He lost his run for Congress in 1843 and again in 1848.</li><li>He lost his bid to become a U.S. Senator in 1855.</li><li>He ran for Vice President of the U.S. in 1856 and lost.</li><li>He again ran for the U.S. Senate in 1859 and lost yet again.</li></ul><p></p><p>Lincoln once said: “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”</p><p>He also said: “That some achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.”</p><p>Lincoln once said: “It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.”</p><p>The <a href="https://bigideasforsmallbusiness.com/lincolns-lessons-on-failure/" target="_blank">lesson</a> here: "Aim high and persevere. Despite his failures, he pressed on and had numerous successes. He had a successful law practice. He got a patent for a device for 'buoying vessels over shoals.' He was honored in 1992 by the Wrestling Hall of Fame because he only lost one of his 300 matches. And, as everyone knows, he ran successfully for President in 1860 and again in 1864. While in office, he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation and kept the union together."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/08/the-gettysburg-address-gettyimages-3289809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2010/08/the-gettysburg-address-gettyimages-3289809.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>In defining America, he defined himself in Gettysburg on November 19th, 1863.</div><blockquote><p>Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. “But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.</p></blockquote><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-52334308733152430302024-02-09T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-09T05:00:00.158-08:00Trans Movement---2 Pages of Science<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2021/10/Rachel-Levine-1.jpg?fit=crop&ar=16%3A9&w=2048&auto=format&ixlib=react-9.3.0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2021/10/Rachel-Levine-1.jpg?fit=crop&ar=16%3A9&w=2048&auto=format&ixlib=react-9.3.0" width="640" /></a></div><br />Remember Dr. Fauci telling the nation we have to "follow the science"---"wear your mask"---"don't go out in public," etc., etc., only to see him and other "voices of science" living a very different lifestyle than the one they were demanding for the rest of us when the cameras were not running?<p></p><p>"Science" for thee, but not for me. </p><p>Now we're discovering that the Department of Health and Human Services has only two pages of literature supporting "trans" Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine’s assessment that “gender-affirming care” is “necessary” for transgender youth, prompting allegations that the transgender-identifying Biden administration official has violated the Department’s scientific integrity policies by baselessly claiming it’s settled science.</p><p>It is not settled science. And Rachel Levine is not a woman. He's a man by God's standards.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">That's right. Two pages of science.</h3><p><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hhs-says-it-has-only-two-pages-of-scientific-evidence-backing-its-support-for-gender-affirming-care" target="_blank">The Daily Wire</a> has written an excellent article that I would encourage every parent to read.</p><p><a href="https://protectpublicstrust.org/" target="_blank">Protect the Public’s Trust</a> (PPT), a nonprofit watchdog, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for “records of scientific evidence, studies, and/or data to support the Assistant Secretary’s claim that ‘gender-affirming care is medically necessary, safe, and effective for trans and non-binary youth,'” as well as for “records of surveys of medical professionals regarding the value and importance of ‘gender-affirming care’ for minor children.”</p><p>Keep in mind, experts have estimated the trans surgery and follow-up medical attention business will soon be a $2 billion industry.</p><p>Hospitals are expanding and even building new wings to accommodate this growing business.</p><p>In response to the request, HHS produced only a single document—a <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/gender-affirming-care-young-people.pdf" target="_blank">two-page PDF</a> called “Gender-Affirming Care and Young People.” The document is also on HHS’ website and is not a scientific study, but rather a brochure that declares that “research demonstrates that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender-diverse children.”</p><p>It supports the statement with a footnote to a single study that showed that transgender-identifying young people were slightly less suicidal when receiving treatment — 51% who were receiving such care were suicidal, slightly lower than the 62% who weren’t receiving hormones but wanted them. The HHS document also states that puberty blockers are reversible and hormone therapy is partially reversible.</p><p>HHS claimed that Levine — a man who believes he is a woman — made no other mentions of “gender-affirming care” in his emails, PPT said. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Taking action.</h3><p>PPT on Tuesday wrote to the HHS Inspector General requesting that the office open an investigation, saying that Levine is violating the Department’s scientific integrity policies by making politically-motivated declarations and misrepresenting scientific evidence. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/04/28/gettyimages-1231377408-6a1ba36afe80eba0cb04f656c8151358b192692f-s1600-c85.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2022/04/28/gettyimages-1231377408-6a1ba36afe80eba0cb04f656c8151358b192692f-s1600-c85.webp" width="640" /></a></div><p>“This suggests that Assistant Secretary Levine has constantly, continually, ‘everywhere I go,’ made unequivocal statements regarding the medical necessity, safety, and effectiveness of gender-affirming care based entirely upon a single two-page document,” the letter said. </p><p>The complaint, obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, says that government officials using their stature as science officials to make politically motivated statements and casting them as irrefutable science risks a further “loss of trust” in scientific institutions that would be “cataclysmic.”</p><p>“When asked for ‘records of scientific evidence, studies, and/or data’ and for ‘records of surveys of medical professionals’ to support these claims, HHS was able to provide only a single information sheet – essentially a piece of marketing material with cherry-picked data and agenda-driven assertions,” the complaint said. “This is the opposite of science and evidence-based policymaking and flies in the face of the agency’s pledge of ‘adherence to professional practices, ethical behavior, and the principles of honesty and objectivity when conducting, managing, using the results of, and communicating about science and scientific activities.'”</p><p>"When we asked HHS to provide this data, all they offered was a single two-page information sheet with links to cherry-picked, often activist-generated research to justify irreversible and possibly dangerous measures", the PPT Director says.</p><p>This is why the public has lost trust in government agencies. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The lie.</h3><p>Levine has regularly used his role as a science official to declare that “the treatment options for gender-affirming care for transgender youth really are evidence-based,” and opposition to it is “unconscionable.” </p><p>“There is no argument among medical professionals—pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, adolescent medicine, physicians, adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, et cetera—about the value and the importance of gender-affirming care,” Levine told <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/04/29/1095227346/rachel-levine-calls-state-anti-lgbtq-bills-disturbing-and-dangerous-to-trans-you" target="_blank">NPR</a>. The HHS website similarly hides behind “science,” saying, “At HHS, we listen to medical experts and doctors, and they agree with us, that access to affirming care for transgender youth is essential.”</p><p>Levine gave his interview while he was traveling to speak at Texas Christian University at the Out For Health Conference, which was founded and organized by medical students. </p><p>When he was asked, "Why this event and what is the message of your speech?"</p><p>He responded, "I think it's a tremendous opportunity to speak with young professionals about health equity, diversity, and inclusion."</p><p>As I said recently in this Faith and Freedom Daily article, two things are driving the trans movement:</p><p>Money and far-left ideology drive the movement in absolute rebellion against God and His Creation.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.frc.org/img/domain/frc/item/NA23B37_NORMAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="800" height="336" src="https://www.frc.org/img/domain/frc/item/NA23B37_NORMAL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Last year, Levine was <a href="https://washingtonstand.com/news/controversial-trans-clinic-pushed-schools-to-affirm-5th-grade-girls-identifying-as-boys" target="_blank">exposed</a> for discussing the “profitability” of gender transition genital mutilation surgeries with officials at the Penn State Health Children’s Hospital. Specifically, the Assistant HHS Secretary advised that involving a social worker in the process would help the hospital bill young transgender-identifying women’s double mastectomies to private insurance or Medicaid. At last year’s HHS Pride Summit, Levine once again claimed that gender transition procedures for minors are “literally suicide prevention care.”</p><p>Also last year, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to shield Levine from legal discovery in a lawsuit surrounding Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act, after the federal government involved itself in the lawsuit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.frc.org/img/domain/frc/item/NA24B16_NORMAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="800" height="336" src="https://www.frc.org/img/domain/frc/item/NA24B16_NORMAL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><a href="https://washingtonstand.com/news/hhs-offers-single-2pager-in-support-of-gender-transition-procedures-for-children" target="_blank">The Washington Stand</a>, an arm of the Family Research Council, responded to this issue saying "While HHS continues promoting harmful and often irreversible gender transition procedures for children, many Western nations have begun cautioning against the practice. Nations like France and the U.K. have explicitly warned against prescribing puberty blockers and hormone drugs to children — the U.K. even barred the practice legally. The U.K.’s Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock clinic was recently shut down after a government review found there was little to no psychological oversight and children were being rushed and even pressured to take puberty blockers and hormone drugs. Many European countries have cited a lack of valid evidence and research on the subject of gender transition procedures, especially for children."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Jesus loves the little children---all the children. When his disciples told the children not to bother Him, He said in Matthew 19:14, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."</p><p>We must be advocates for the lives of the unborn and for the born.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-66406103305473922372024-02-08T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-08T05:00:00.136-08:00Immigration Bill--Dead On Arrival? Or, Future Of America?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/40439689293_5b195090be_k-1200x675.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/40439689293_5b195090be_k-1200x675.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Yesterday, the New York Times was making the case that we should---we "must" pass this new so-called "bi-partisan" immigration bill.<p></p><p>We need to take a hard, clear look at this bill that President Biden and his enablers claim will fix the border problem, thus fixing America.</p><p>Deception.</p><p>Our blessed country hangs in the balance.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/briefing/republican-border-bill-ukraine.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> said yesterday, "The United States has had a porous border with Mexico for decades, and the situation has worsened in the past few years, with more than 10,000 people entering the U.S. on some days. Many then remain for years, even without a visa or citizenship. Mayors, governors, and immigration experts — as well as voters — have long urged Congress to fix the problem."</p><p>The current crisis, then, is not really a crisis; it's "normal," and this administration has brought together a bipartisan group to support the president in fixing what has been happening for a long time.</p><p>The NYT continues: "This week, a bipartisan group of senators released a plan for doing so. And for anybody who has grown cynical about Washington, the plan offered reasons for both surprise and further cynicism."</p><p>"The surprising part is that productive bipartisanship seems to be alive, even on an issue as divisive as immigration. A wide range of experts say that the Senate plan — negotiated by James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican; Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat; and Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent — would strengthen border security and reduce illegal immigration."</p><p>The Times continues, explaining, "The measure has the support of business lobbying groups as well as the organization representing the mayors of every U.S. city with a population above 30,000. The labor union for border patrol agents, which endorsed Donald Trump in 2020, supports the plan. So do the editorial boards of The Washington Post, which leans left, and The Wall Street Journal, which is deeply conservative."</p><p>Deception. The Washington Post does not "lean Left"; it represents the extreme leftist ideologies in our country.</p><p>The Times article goes on to make the case for the "bill," concluding, "Republicans are against immigration reform."</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The truth.</h3><p>B.L. Hahn, writing in the <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/07/without-mass-deportations-americas-demographics-will-result-in-radical-politics/" target="_blank">Federalist</a> yesterday, said, "The much-anticipated Senate border bill unveiled this week is another example of the destructive and unserious people who lead this nation. President Biden and Democrats are now blaming Republicans for failing to pass the bill, but the reality is that for the “open borders” Democrat Party, everything is going according to plan."</p><blockquote><p>The Democrat Party is well on its way to fundamentally changing America’s demographics, all to secure what they believe will eventually become an unbeatable coalition of new voters. To understand the progress they’ve made, consider that in 2018, research conducted at MIT and Yale determined that the most accurate population estimate of illegal aliens residing in the U.S. was 22.1 million. Given the staggering surge of illegal aliens under the Biden administration, that estimate would now be in the range of 30-plus million. To put that into perspective, if we created a 51st state comprised entirely of illegal aliens, its population would be larger than every state except California, and it would be 77 percent of the entire population of Canada.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Going forward, even if we somehow prevent 100 percent of future illegal immigration, it only buys us time — and not much. Democrats know this, of course. It’s why they continue to accept short-term backlash from our open border in exchange for a long-term payoff. By pointing out that illegal aliens cannot vote, the left claims that this whole thing is a “racist conspiracy theory.”</p></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><p>This disingenuous tactic ignores three things: 1) Democrats have routinely tried to pass some type of amnesty that would eventually allow illegal aliens to vote, 2) Children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. can legally vote when they turn 18, and 3) In 2020, Joe Biden carried Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona by a total of about 45,000 votes, meaning a presidential election could be decided by only 0.15 percent of the illegal alien population voting in the right states.</p><p>Two of these three points are hypotheticals — amnesty and illegal aliens voting — but the other is a mathematical certainty. Children are the future, and this is where the left has placed its chips. Assuming we can prevent amnesty from passing while magically stopping all approximately 30 million illegals from voting in perpetuity, children born to illegal aliens are turning 18 every year in tranches. Unless there is a titanic shift in voting demographics, each tranche makes it more difficult for Republicans to win elections. Democrats don’t need to pass amnesty. They don’t need illegal aliens to vote. They just need to wait it out. </p></blockquote><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The cost.</h3><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1970328277-e1706975613899.jpg?fit=crop&ar=16%3A9&w=2048&auto=format&ixlib=react-9.3.0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/GettyImages-1970328277-e1706975613899.jpg?fit=crop&ar=16%3A9&w=2048&auto=format&ixlib=react-9.3.0" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Illegal immigration is wreaking havoc on our hospitals, schools, housing, public lands, and budgets while facilitating a drug epidemic that kills scores of Americans. Savvy New York City Mayor Eric Adams has helped craft a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nyc-to-start-53m-program-that-will-hand-out-prepaid-credit-cards-to-illegal-immigrants?fbclid=IwAR2SjKDz2zJzkppauusmICHHW4WuFfxTT9rTGuhla6y0SCtFVkL-8bkoWuU" target="_blank">plan</a> to dissuade more illegals from coming. The solution? Spoil them rotten.</div><p>New York City, under the direction of Mayor Eric Adams, is set to begin a $53 million program that will give illegal immigrant families who have arrived in the Big Apple a prepaid credit card.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/013024-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-75677414.jpg?resize=2048,1365&quality=75&strip=all" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/013024-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-75677414.jpg?resize=2048,1365&quality=75&strip=all" width="640" /></a></div><p>The cards will be refilled every 28 days, and families have to sign an affidavit promising to spend the credit card funds only on food and baby supplies. Funds on the credit cards will vary depending on the size of the family, but a family of four could receive up to $1,000 a month, according to the Post.</p><p>The Immediate Response Card program, which will be run by New Jersey company Mobility Capital Finance, will begin by giving around 500 illegal immigrant families a credit card to pay for food, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/02/02/metro/nyc-to-hand-out-prepaid-credit-cards-to-migrant-families-for-food/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_source=twitter" target="_blank">The New York Post</a> reported. The pilot program will replace the food service offered to them at the short-term shelter set up at the Roosevelt Hotel.</p><p>The illegals are complaining because the food the city has been providing for them is "horrible."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/roosevelt-hotel-building-permanently-closed-73788392.jpg?resize=2048,1365&quality=75&strip=all" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/roosevelt-hotel-building-permanently-closed-73788392.jpg?resize=2048,1365&quality=75&strip=all" width="640" /></a></div><p>The Post spotted several migrant families arriving back at the Roosevelt Hotel hauling Cheetos, Hawaiian punch, English muffins, and bags full of groceries this week.</p><p>Mom, Alexandra Salas — who has been staying at the Roosevelt for seven months — said she, too, won’t feed her kids the cold meals.</p><p>“The breakfast and lunch is so cold we can’t eat it, so it gets thrown in the trash,” she said. </p><p>“They serve sandwiches for lunch, but they are freezing cold.”</p><p>Many are complaining that the food is not nutritious enough. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/overview-food-items-brought-roosevelt-73749307.jpg?quality=75&strip=all" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/overview-food-items-brought-roosevelt-73749307.jpg?quality=75&strip=all" width="640" /></a></div><p>It comes after internal company records obtained by the New York Times revealed one company who serves meals to migrants across the city had to <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/12/15/metro/migrants-reject-sandwiches-chicken-dishes-at-nyc-shelters/" target="_blank">trash</a> more than 70,000 “wasted” migrant meals between October 22 and November 22.</p><p>DocGo — who do not provide food for The Roosevelt Hotel where hundreds of the migrants are housed— was awarded a $432 million no-bid contract by the city to help with migrant services.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>Hahn says, "For these reasons [including a refusal to assimalate] and more, the next president must mobilize the federal government to deport as many illegal aliens as possible, beginning with violent criminals and the most recent arrivals. Our asylum system, which is scammed by millions of foreign nationals, must be scrapped, and we need a southern border wall."</p><p>"Our current trajectory is not sustainable, and while the task will be difficult, it is far better than watching the greatest civilization that’s ever existed go down the drain because we didn’t want to be perceived as “mean.”</p><p>It is not righteous or morally defensible to destroy our nation because we don’t want to inconvenience people who break our laws by coming here illegally. We must become a nation that enforces its most basic and necessary feature — its borders. </p><p>This is both biblical and ethical.</p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful. </i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6335541.post-29122552209705577682024-02-07T05:00:00.000-08:002024-02-07T05:00:00.140-08:00The War of 2024<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwIyB4WUAQz4wf6FROhAMfv5vJH9DQfEgEDQBgpEdgt2G8QDRUo8EneJ96tvESGjJLDEp0tcVH0fJqwcceEykhTG8RlLKBpNw7ZUhyDS4mYyFX_py4kjHuI5EdlfNnCykdBvVDzSps5LCAxxQh0awMC-E3vTF0AFkTQP00urF_rYx1wJtKkotmQ/s760/151850_w_760_378.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="760" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwIyB4WUAQz4wf6FROhAMfv5vJH9DQfEgEDQBgpEdgt2G8QDRUo8EneJ96tvESGjJLDEp0tcVH0fJqwcceEykhTG8RlLKBpNw7ZUhyDS4mYyFX_py4kjHuI5EdlfNnCykdBvVDzSps5LCAxxQh0awMC-E3vTF0AFkTQP00urF_rYx1wJtKkotmQ/w640-h318/151850_w_760_378.webp" width="640" /></a></div><br />Pastor Jack Hibbs recently listed five things Christians will go to war over this year in a sermon at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, California.<p></p><p>Hibbs explained that his message was centered on “the war of 2024,” emphasizing that Christians “are on a mission and we are in a war.”</p><p>“I’m not talking about bombs, guns, and missiles,” he clarified. “I’m talking about an all-out war on everything, from the spiritual realm, which is invisible, but certainly to the physical world, in which things manifest.”</p><p>“And this year of 2024 will be unlike any other year previously lived in your lifetime.”</p><p>I agree.</p><p>Be informed, not misled.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;">War over the Truth.</h3><p>The following is a summary of Pastor Hibbs' sermon about the "war of 2024" that he believes Christians will face over the coming months. It was published by <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/jack-hibbs-lists-5-things-christians-will-go-to-war-over-in-2024.html?clickType=link-most-popular" target="_blank">Christian Post</a>.</p><p>Hibbs believes that, first of all, the war “will be against the truth,” reading John 18:37-38, in which Jesus explains that He testifies to the truth, to which Pontius Pilate famously asked, “What is truth?”</p><p>“Think about the pain behind that question. Think about the confusion behind the question. Think about the disillusionment behind the question,” Hibbs said, adding, “We’ve got to guard our hearts that we do not become cynical and bitter.”</p><p>Hibbs noted that a lot of people today are asking, "What is truth?” and that it seems as though things have gotten worse since Pilate because people have a harder time believing in truth.</p><p>“When you tell somebody the actual truth, they don’t believe it,” he said. “It’s not that they’re being mean about it; it’s that ‘why should I believe that because I’ve just heard 10 other things.’”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">War against the facts.</h3><p>The second thing that the war of 2024 will be centered on, according to Hibbs, will be a war “against the facts,” with the pastor defining facts as “the reporting of what is observed.”</p><p>Hibbs warned about the biases of people or groups purporting to be fact-checkers, declaring that “the only way that life really works right is a life that operates under the fear of God.”</p><p>“For 2024, definitions are going to be a big deal,” he continued. “Five years ago, it was words, because we all used the same dictionary. Now, it's like, ‘What does that mean?’”</p><p>Hibbs also referenced how 2024 was a presidential election year, warning that, “You are going to see deception fly like you’ve never seen it fly before. It's going to be supersonic.”</p><p>Hibbs read from 1 John 4, in which Christians are told, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">War against the Faith</h3><p>The third thing that the war of 2024 will include is a war “against the faith,” with the pastor noting that this was not a war against all faiths, but rather against the Christian faith specifically.</p><p>“Your faith is the most precious thing that you own,” Hibbs told his congregation. “When you have no faith in someone or something greater than yourself, you lose hope, you lose direction.”</p><p>“But if your faith is in Jesus Christ and Him alone, then you’re secure. You’ll do awesome in 2024. You will war the great warfare, victoriously, because you know who you are and you know to Whom you belong.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">War against the Church</h3><p>The fourth aspect of the war of 2024, according to Hibbs, is the war “against the Church,” noting that “the war has always been against the Church” and that “God loves His Church, we love each other, but the world is against us.”</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">War against marriage</h3><p>The fifth and final aspect of the war of 2024 that Hibbs spoke about was that it would be “a war against marriage,” with him quipping that “it doesn’t take a spiritual Einstein to figure this one out.”</p><p>Hibbs also denounced the cheapening of marriage in modern society, citing as an example the long-running reality television program “Married at First Sight.”</p><p>Hibbs stated that marriage was one of “just a few foundational institutions created by God in all of time and eternity,” citing the Church and national Israel as two of the other few things.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Takeaway</h3><p>I'll be talking more about these five aspects of the war of 2024 on our daily radio program this morning.</p><p>Please join. <a href="https://blog.faithandfreedom.us/p/radio.html" target="_blank">Here's how</a>. </p><p><b><i>Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Battle-Ready. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.</i></b></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Paid for and maintained by Gary Randall Ministries. ©2024. All Rights Reserved.</div>Gary Randallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09918829530086970604noreply@blogger.com