RSS
 

Politics-Deep State-A-J

07 Jun

Since the American people are opposed to the liberal agenda liberals are working through judges and unelected bureaucrats to subvert the will of the people. They know that Federal judges and unelected officials are hard to get at because voters never have a chance to vote them out since they didn’t vote them in. Most voters do not realize the power of the politicians they elect. While the President and State governors aren’t allowed to enact laws, they appoint the heads of the various government agencies under them. A candidate for governor may not talk about abortion in his campaign but when it comes to appointing officers to agencies like the Board of Health, a pro-abortion governor will usually appoint a Director who is pro-abortion and abortion often quickly rises to a top priority for the Board of Health and the only way to remove him is to defeat the governor in the next election and elect a governor who will appoint someone who is pro-life. While agencies are only supposed to carry out laws passed by Congress, liberal directors are taking it upon themselves to ignore the laws and push their agenda. In addition, liberal Presidents like President Obama and President Biden have taken it upon themselves to issue executive orders to force the government agencies to violate the law. For instance, President Biden ordered the border patrol to not hinder immigrants entering illegally and ordered the Veteran’s Dept to perform abortions in States where it is illegal. Candidates for President are even more important since they appoint the Supreme Court justices who then serve for life. They aren’t appointed by each new President so once they are appointed, they are there until they die or retire. The President also appoints federal judges to fill vacancies so it is important to know where the Presidential candidate stands. President Trump filled many vacancies with conservative judges who respected the law but there were many who remained from before he became President who were hampering his work in restoring rights to the people. The Constitution was written to protect the rights of the people but politicians like President Obama openly ignore and violate the Constitution.

 

 

Third Sunday of Pentecost-June 2

04 Jun

Recognizing visitorsMany pastors and church boards tell me that few people visit the church. Yet when I ask about a person or family that I saw visiting, they often didn’t notice. I often visit churches and often leave wondering if I was even noticed. Though the churches are often not close to where I live, they have no way of knowing that. I could be someone who just moved into the area and am looking for a church. Many churches have no way to recognize visitors. The ushers can carry visitor cards and pass them out to those visiting or the church can have pew cards in the pews for visitors to fill out. Ushers are the front line when it comes to visitors. They are usually the first to meet them and are familiar with many who attend church. If they see someone wandering around looking for the sanctuary or the rest rooms, it is a good bet that person isn’t a regular attender. Even though visitors are more easily recognized in Sunday School than in the sanctuary, few Sunday School teachers record visitor information in their classes. As a result, many visitors go unrecognized. In addition, the church can have many activities like Vacation Bible School, potlucks, and visiting singers that attract visitors who have no church home. It takes courage to visit a large group of strangers and if the group does not recognize them and greet them, they rarely come back. Ushers and church leaders need to actively seek to identify visitors during every activity. One declining church I took over as pastor rented their Sunday School rooms to a government poverty program to help pay upkeep on the church. They wanted me to find another source of income so they could get rid of the program. The program drew about fifty people from the local community every week. It took me a while to convince the church to stop trying to chase the people out and begin inviting them in.

 

The Courts-B-A

03 Jun

Judges are elected or appointed to interpret the law. Two decisions by judges under President Obama show where liberal judges are working against our best interests. Obamacare was enacted to make insurance available to more people through government subsidized insurance plans. but included so many demands on insurance companies that it forced up the price of insurance pushing it out of range for many people who could have afforded it otherwise. Republicans pushed through laws designed to bring down insurance costs but a judge ruled that the rules  were unconstitutional. One rule allowed small businesses to develop collaboratives to help them get lower insurance rates now only available to big businesses. What in the Constitution forbids people from working together to help each other? Another rule would reduce the requirements required by Obamacare allowing customers to only pay for what they need or want. Repealing that requirement would also mean that those who oppose abortions would no longer have to pay for them. The last would allow insurance companies to sell over State lines increasing competition and forcing prices down. In some States there is only one non-government insurer allowing them to charge whatever they want and in some States there aren’t any, making government insurance the only choice. There is nothing in the Constitution forbidding free enterprise. If anything, the regulations set down by Obamacare were unconstitutional because they restrict competition and freedom of choice.

 

 

 
 

Gay Rights-V-H

03 Jun

While doctors pressure parents to go along with transgender treatments for their kids, there is no proof it helps. They often tell the parents that their child will probably commit suicide if they aren’t allowed to transition, but studies are showing that kids that transition are far more likely to commit suicide than children that don’t. In fact, a number of European countries that  were pioneers in the trans movement have begun to ban the use of  transitioning drugs and surgeries.  Gender transitioning drugs and surgeries are lucrative programs in the US with government funding, just as abortion is, and is being promoted with the help of health programs and health clinics in schools, just as abortion is, in order to create a rich source of income. In fact, Planned Parenthood is the major player in pushing both programs. At least 22 States have passed the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” (Safe Acts) to protect children from the dangerous effects of transitional drugs and surgeries.

 

video-Sanctity of Life-promo

25 May

 

Trinity Sunday May 26

24 May

Trinity Sunday B-The season of Pentecost occurs during the summer and today is a time when the church reaches out through special ministries to reach those who don’t know God that they may see God’s love and turn to Him. The zeal of the church in its ministry testifies to the presence of the Holy Spirit in it just as the tongues of fire testified to the presence of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost after Jesus rose from the dead. The church’s goal should be to be a witness to God’s love and to introduce unbelievers to the love of God in the hope that they will desire that love and turn to Christ for their salvation. The church’s main emphasis should be to reach out to those around it, conduct charity, and minister to the needs it finds. While these should be carried out all year round, Pentecost should be used to expand the church’s outreach

 

 

Freedom of Religion-C-B

22 May

Liberals have launched a broad attack on pro-life and other conservative  organizations designed to silence them under the false narrative that they are stirring up rioting while liberal organizations are being given free reign in stirring up rioting  and attacking conservatives. While the justice department moved against Christians for praying in front of abortion clinics and a number of them have already been sentenced to up to eleven years in prison, they have yet to investigate the vandalism and torching of churches and pro-life pregnancy centers. The one they were finally forced to prosecute only received eight years in prison for torching pro-life centers. Apparently they consider prayer warriors far more of a threat than arsonists. President Biden has been using government agencies to harass and threaten Christian organizations in order to silence them. I have received messages from a number of organizations that have had their Twitter and Facebook accounts cut off with no warning or reason given. In addition, many financial institutions are cutting off the fund-raising accounts for these organizations in order to strangle them financially. This is a widespread and well-organized attempt to silence anyone who opposes the liberal socialist agenda. Gab seems to be flooded with people fleeing the main sites, seeking safer media. I don’t know who else is safe as I use mainly Facebook and Linked-in. I occasionally use Gab, though you can’t build up a following without paying a subscription. I use Facebook because most the people I know use it and it has a wide audience, though I don’t know how much longer I can continue to use it. I have a fairly small following so they haven’t bothered me much but they shut down my site from time to time for a couple days at a time if I become too active in reposting posts from large sites they don’t like, so I have to be careful what I post on it. They don’t have the staff to closely scrutinize all posts but closely watch large conservative sites. That may change as they are calling for volunteers to monitor posts and report sites that threaten their agenda.

 

 

 

Freedom of Religion-C-A

22 May

 In 2009, President Obama enacted legislation which literally opened the door to liberal hate speech while denying Christians a forum to express their views. Since then, numerous Christians in the United States have been jailed or heavily fined for refusing to participate in activities they find offensive. We finally got a glimpse of how much the justice department was paying the media to censor conservative groups who used their sites when Twitter was bought out. Liberals have also launched high profile attacks on Christians. For example, a Colorado and an Oregon baker have been heavily fined for refusing to bake Gay oriented cakes and a Kentucky Clerk was jailed briefly because she refused to issue marriage licenses to Gay couples.  The “First Amendment Defense Act” was enacted in Mississippi after numerous challenges in court by homosexual lobbyists. It declares that (A) Marriage is only between a man and a woman, (B) Gender is determined by birth, and (C) Sex should only occur within marriage. This allows businesses and government workers to refuse to perform services which they find offensive without fear of heavy fines or jail time and allows businesses and schools to maintain biological bathrooms. Unfortunately laws are only as good as those who enforce them and liberal politicians and judges have shown their contempt for law by openly ignoring laws they don’t agree with. We need to support politicians and judges who uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.

 

 

Freedom of Religion-B-X

22 May

The response has been typical of those who call for tolerance. When they oppose something, they spread lies, make threats, and try to intimidate others to get their way, like unruly children. They say that tolerating religious freedom will give people the right to discriminate and open the way for widespread discrimination against them. It doesn’t matter to them that they are discriminating against others by promoting their beliefs while preventing others from practicing theirs. Liberty is a two-way street. If Gays can practice what they believe, others should be able to do the same. While Gays single out Christians, opposition to the Gay lifestyle is widespread among all organized religions, including Muslims, Hindu, and Buddhists, as well as a lot of atheists. President Biden is pushing Congress to pass a law that would strip away any protection for those who support the traditional family and open the door for Gays to force their lifestyle on others.

 

Freedom of Religion-B-W

22 May

Our nation was founded on religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution showing it was of the highest concern among the founding Fathers. In our day,  it has been repeatedly violated by corrupt judges and legislators who openly scorn the Constitution. President Obama sought to force insurance companies under Obamacare to include benefits for abortions in spite of the fact that the Law authorizing Obamacare expressly forbit any provisions including abortion. He then attempted to force doctors and hospitals to perform abortions even if their faith expressly condemned abortion.  Our God given right to express our faith is under attack and Christians need to stand with those who face persecution to protect their right to not violate their conscience. President Trump was able to get Congress to pass a religious freedom restoration law to ensure that it remained the law even if the Constitution was ignored. However, the federal law only applies to the federal government, not the States. As a result, 30 States have passed a similar law to protect their citizens and other States are considering them. Hobby Lobby won their case against being forced to provide drugs inducing abortions  in their health care coverage as a result of the law.  The fight over the law has revealed a lot about those who call for tolerance today. The laws are designed to protect Christians from being forced to go against their conscience in matters of faith. That such laws are needed shows how corrupt our nation has become. President Biden is showing his contempt for law by seeking to force doctors and hospitals to perform abortions in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRAS) and the laws of States which have laws protecting freedom of religious belief.