Donald Trump and Christians and Religion

Mr Trump is Presbyterian, and the pastor he sat under  for much of his life was the inspirational Guideposts magazine founder, Normal Vincent Peale.  Dr Peale was a good friend of his father, and one of the most important influences in young Donald's life. You can still hear Dr Peale's philosophy in Mr Trump's approach to business and to his own life and his thoughts about America's future.  Dr Peale presided over the marriage of Mr Trump and Melania.  In September 2015, Mr Trump met privately with a large group of religious leaders to seek their perspective on the spiritual issues facing our nation. During the meeting, many of the pastors laid hands on Mr Trump and prayed over him. Several of those have since endorsed Mr Trump.

Mr Trump has never in his whole life drank alcohol or smoked a cigarette or used drugs and he raised his children to live clean as well. He is a passionate advocate for clean living. Mr Trump is pro-life, and opposes funding Planned Parenthood's abortion business.

He went on record multiple times opposing same-sex marriage and same-sex partner benefits. He stood up for Miss California Carrie Prejean when she was under attack for her belief in traditional marriage.  For all his seeming extravagance, he is sensible in spending and generous in his giving and in how he pays his staff.

His adult children are emotionally healthy, mature, and have powerful leadership roles in the company. An involved father, he took them to work with him, and required them to work for minimum wage to earn spending money as youngsters and in college. His son Eric's charity foundation exists exclusively to raise money for St Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

He has spoken four times at CPAC between 2011 and 2015, twice at Liberty University, and recently promised - as no other candidate has done - to protect Christians here and around the world.

Jerry Falwell Jr had this to say: "Trump is not a Sunday school candidate, admitted Falwell. Then again, he said, "for decades, conservatives and evangelicals have chosen the political candidates who have told us what we wanted to hear on social, religious and political issues only to be betrayed by those same candidates after they were elected." If you want the truth, here is a good place to start fact-checking the claims or attacks made against him.

Mr Trump not only supports the Second Amendment, he has unveiled a plan for nationwide concealed carry.   Mr Trump is a lifelong supporter of our men and women in law enforcement,  of State's Rights, and donated a million dollars toward NYC's Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

When you do your Christian Due  Dilligence, look at the fruit. Jimmy Carter is a born again Southern Baptist who taught Sunday School. But did he have the Lord's blessing to lead our nation? I was a young adult during that time, and I voted for him. Instead of Christian renewal, we got Billy Beer, the Arab Oil Embargo, the abandonment of our allies, the Iran Hostage crisis - which was solved by paying off Iran with money and weapons.

Reagan is touted by many Christians for his staunch support of traditional Christian values. But he & Nancy (his second wife, he divorced his first wife) regularly consulted astrologers while in the White House, and used astrology to plan everything from his schedule to having him sworn in as Governor of California in the middle of the night on the advice of an Astologer because of  good 'omens'. Reagan signed the Abortion on Demand bill that made California the first state in the nation to offer legal widespread abortion.

As governor of California, Reagan supported and signed several gun control laws, including the 1967 the Mulford Act, banning Californians from the right to carry a loaded firearm. Reagan also implemented the 14 day "waiting period" (which Donald Trump OPPOSED at the time), and the first "automatic firearms ban" in 1986. Further, Reagan actively campaigned for the "assault weapons ban" in 1994.

ALL of our Republican candidates are Christians, every one of them. Ask yourself -and God in prayer - who is the most likely to be the most effective leader of a Christian nation at this time in history? Remember Cyrus.

We have candidates who have served and are currently serving in elected office. Two have been busy praying in public, out in front of the cameras for everyone to see.

Here is a quote from Mr Trump that, in the 25 years since he said it, he has consistently lived up to:
"I have a reputation for being tough, and I’d like to think it’s justified. Toughness, as I see it, is a quality made up of equal parts of strength, intelligence, and self-respect.
The opposite of toughness-weakness-makes me mad and sometimes turns my stomach. I’m not referring here to the kind of weakness that comes from being poor, sick, or disadvantaged. I’m talking about those people who can take a strong stand but just don’t.
Toughness is pride, drive, commitment, and the courage to follow through on things you believe in, even when they are under attack. It is solving problems instead of letting them fester. It is being who you really are, even when society wants you to be somebody else."

That's My King, Dr. S.M. Lockridge, One Powerful Narration!

Computer Failure and Summer Pleasantries

My trusty Dell Inspiron lies comatose, due to hard drive failure. It is 6 years old, so unlikely that we'll have it repaired. I'm going to ask Devin to look at it, and if it is costly to fix, he can have it for parts. There go all my bookmarks, photos, blog notes. C'est la vie. We won't replace it soon, there are more important priorities. For the time being, Paul is letting me share his computer - which is also our tv source.

So blogging will be lighter, but will not disappear. This blog has done well as an outlet for me and I enjoy my readers and the friends I've made through it.  I'll simply be posting once a week instead of 2 to 3 times. Maybe the quality will improve! Ha! :-)  Anyway, thanks for reading and for continuing to follow along. In the meantime, feel free to visit our sponsors.   :-)

It's actually been pleasant to be without a laptop.  At Paul's urging, I've resumed an old hobby, making costume jewelry and stringing beads - and making beads. When we met, I sold my jewelry in a couple of shops and did shows, but had let the hobby fall to the wayside long ago. Expect to see some pieces here at some point.

I've also been working on a big project that has been sitting and waiting for a couple of years: a tiny Cardinal travel trailer, vintage late 1960s. It had been gutted and I guess used as a food cart or something so it was a real mess! We aren't "restoring" it as such, but making it liveable as a secure place to sleep. Whereever we camp will certainly have "facilities" with showers and clean toilets, thank you very much! I am a big fan of hot water and indoor plumbing even when roughing it.  Paul shored up the inside and got the tags on and will take care of the electrics. My brother in law is going to paint the outside of it for us when we get to that point. Yesterday I finished the second coat of paint on the interior and now I'm searching for curtain material. It needs to have a touch of the avocado green of the naugahyde cushions, have a little blue, either  beachy, tropical or mid-century modern pattern. I lost the "before" pics on my computer, but I'll put up some "in progress" ones soon.

Yesterday morning after I got off work, we went to Cross Plains Texas to Robert E. Howard Days (aka Barbarian Days). I've been wanting to go to that since I first heard about it but something always interfered. We toured the author's house, bought various bits of Conan the Barbarian comic art, took pictures (I'll add them in a later post), and went to the Barbarian Festival. Cross Plains has a great, oak-shaded park for this kind of event. It was cool and comfortable. Live music, great Fair food, free watermelon and neat tshotshkes. One book I bought was "Lone Scout of Letters", the collected correspondence of Herbert C. Klatt, who died at 21 on 1928. Not only for those interested in Boy Scouts history, the Lone Scout organization, or the history of amateur journalism, the book also gives a glimpse into the life of a teenaged boy in rural Texas in the early part of the last century. 


We'll pick up the grandkids today to come spend a week or two. They are older, and they come each summer to help with the community Vacation Bible School. They always have a lot of fun, and we are so happy to have them. 

Now, off to church. Dinner on the ground and baptisms this afternoon, as more people answer Jesus' call to "Come, follow me."   


God bless you this Sunday, and through your week!

"God Uses Failures"

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11


A great place to visit today is "Bread upon the Waters", where Miss QR has posted The Sensational Nightingales singing "Standing on the Promises of God". I love the songs she picks each Sunday. Lifts me up and gets me singing merrily as I go!

If anyone thinks failure means they can no longer reach their dreams or be an amazing Christian leader, this sermon from Pastor Duane Sheriff will give you good cause to think again. God has lifted up some terrible sinners and brought mighty works to happen through them. It's time to put your failures to work for the cause of goodness in our world. Watch, and rejoice - then go out with Christ and conquer the world!


Pastor Duane Sheriff - God Uses Failures by urbanminingco

We began attending a Victory Life congregation last summer. I've been an active, involved Christian my whole life (although my relationship with denominations has been "stormy"!), and this ministry is from God in a down to earth way that is perfect for our times. More of Pastor Sheriff's sermons can be found at his website. If you don't have broadband for streaming, you can order cds for free - no charge at all. Have a blessing today!

Jesus Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!

May eternal joy be yours! Happy Easter with God's rich blessings to all!

Death Be Not Proud
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
-- John Donne


Romans 5:9-11:
"By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger!
"We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!
"But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends."


Art is "The Resurrection" by Peter Paul Rubens, 1611 AD (scroll down at the link to find the commentary on this painting).

"You will never be forgotten"

“To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, 
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.”
Isaiah 56:5 (American Standard Version)

On The Christian Woman blog, Gwenn McKone has written a beautiful meditation on the verse above, titled "Restoring what others have taken":

"To me, this is one of the tenderest passages in all of scripture. God is saying, “I know what has happened to you and my heart grieves for you. Your life is your work because it is all you have, but if you will do what pleases me, and keep my sabbath, I will give you something better that no one can ever take away from you.”


Her article is a blessing - click here to read it all.

In this Old Testament passage, Isaiah 56:1-8 (Good News Version), God also reminds of His promise to Israel to bring others to join them in their redemption: that His mercy is open to all who follow him, that His people will come from all nations. He lovingly foretells the salvation that Jesus will bring to the world.

Our Father God can, and will, heal us of all things, and will make us - and our circumstances - even better, more perfect, than we would have been, and that perfection will be everlasting.

Fear Not! For Unto You is Born in Bethlehem A Savior, Which is Christ the Lord

Luke 2:10-20 (KJV)

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them."

Persecution in America: US Bureaucrats Ban Christianity. Again. And Get Away With It. Again.

Christianity is not a "faith tradition", it is a religion: the largest, most widespread religion in the world, and globally, it is growing. It is growing through conversion by freedom of choice because Christ offers hope and freedom to everyone: true liberty that fuels joy, peace, democracy, science, abundance, compassion.

Christianity is the only religion of truth and life. There is no other. To believe Jesus is the Son of God, who was born, was crucified, died, who rose to real, physical life again: to believe this requires following His final directive, the only commandment He gave after His resurrection: to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature."

Preaching the Gospel is the central action of our faith, no matter what our denomination,and was commanded by Jesus. The word "proselytizing" is an inappropriate negative, and is not descriptive of or a synonym for,
evangelism.

Jesus does not attempt to force anyone to believe in Him and neither do Christians. But to follow Jesus means that we speak the Truth, that we ask our Father God to bless those who do not believe, that we tell them the Good News, so they have the opportunity to make their choice.

Recently, the Navy, following the US Army's lead in banning Bibles and forbidding Christian practice and faith by our soldiers, and following up the VA's ban on praying to God and Jesus at the Houston National Cemetery of this summer, decided to push the envelope further and ban Bibles and anything related to Christianity from being read to, used or given to wounded veterans in Walter Reed hospital. Here's a PDF of the original memo from C.W. Callahan, Chief of Staff. The ban is hidden at the very end, right after a ban on homemade cookies: "No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit."

It is persecution to compel a Christian to forego mentioning our faith in ANY task we do, whether we are at work or play, on the street or in a public building, an employee or a volunteer or a client.


Unelected bureaucrats are violating the LAW and the Constitution of the United States of America if they  try to forbid, limit, or control Christian expressions or statements of faith, worship, or study are forbidden. The courts have consistently upheld our right to not only believe but to teach our beliefs.

And those of us who do what we are told, and obey such directives, are denying our Lord Jesus Christ, as surely as Peter did, out of fear.

I am guilty. I have had opportunities - in the recent as well as distant past - to stand up quietly for Christianity's place in the workplace, and I didn't. I've had chances to witness that I didn't take because I was afraid of being embarrassed or of being chastised.

I am a "by the book" kind of person, and I follow rules. Like other civilized people all over the world, I tend to do what I am told by people in authority. Fundamental Christian tenets ask us to love others in truth, to be gentle and compassionate in how we talk about our faith, how we share the Gospel.  But I have used that respect for others and my need to be liked and to "be nice" as an excuse for conforming to the world instead of conforming to God.

There was a time when we could get by on just being nice, because we could trust our elected representatives, our bosses and the people who work in government to uphold our rights as Christians to believe and express our faith. But no more. More and more, we see that many of those in positions of authority are abusing their positions and giving orders that mistreat Christians, acting at the behest of the intolerant shrill to give priority to novelty cults and abusive cultures, and are trying to force Christians into the closet.

I keep a Bible at work. I always have. It isn't there for preaching, but for me to read - especially for comfort when I am anxious. There's always something in the workplace to be anxious about, no matter what our job, and reading, remembering, the Word of the Lord can help so much.


I don't know how I might react if I were ordered to remove the Bible from my desk at work.  I am afraid I might meekly comply: taking my Bible home and living with greater anxiety, justifying my inaction by the perceived need to keep my job and pay my bills, and forgetting that God has promised to take care of me and all my needs, and that He always has.

I pray and hope that faith could overcome fear.

Please Father God, give me strength to put You first: to obey all laws but those that deny You. Please give me courage to be faithful in these little things. Grant that my daily life can help proclaim the Gospel of Your Son Jesus, the Christ, that others may meet Him and that Your Will be done on earth just as it is in Heaven.

UPDATE Tuesday, Dec 6th: Please see the updated post  for latest information on this matter. 

A GREAT Christmas This Year, No Matter What

One of the most memorable Christmases in my life was in the depths of the early 1980s recession, the year my grandmother had open heart surgery right after Thanksgiving.  Between unemployment, faltering businesses, and serious health issues, everyone in the family had Big Worries and no money.

All of our gifts that year were either homemade or inexpensive. And we were together. The children were young. Confidence and hope for a good future took hold. It was Christmas.

Mema had always made the holiday dinners, but she wasn't able to that year, so Mama got to make Christmas Dinner and have it at her house. It was not something she wanted to take on permanently, but was a fun new experience, and we had a sumptuous meal.

Mema usually took care of buying any purchased gifts they gave, and Nandy often built furniture or toys in his workshop for us. But this year, he was too busy caring for Mema to make anything, so he went shopping on Christmas Eve.

Under the tree for me was a simple motto plaque. He said he thought about me immediately when he saw it. It reads:

"The Way To Happiness:
Keep your heart free from hate...
Your mind from worry...
Live simply... expect little...
Give much..."

It still hangs in our home, and it has inspired me during good times and bad for 30 years.

What were some of your best Christmases? I'll bet they weren't times when your family had the most money, but when you had the most love.

Make up your mind to make this one of those best Christmases.

Give from your heart in every way you can, and even if you don't spend a dime, Christmas will be beautiful for your children, your spouse, your family, your friends, your neighbors... and for you.

Life Without Cable or Satellite TV: More Time & Money For Good Things!

During the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit debate, the storyline was that elderly people had to choose between buying medicine or buying food. Today, I guess the new storyline is that the poor in America must choose between Affordable Twitter and watching American Idle Idol, or feeding their children home cooked breakfast & home-packed lunchboxes.

I don't know which is worse: the FCC requiring a philanthropic subscriber gimmick as part of a business deal, or the requirement that a family be paying for cable TV while getting "free" school lunches as a requirement for Comcast (aka NBC Universal) "giving" them "affordable" internet as long as they keep getting government handouts.

No wonder Washington can't understand what "Stop spending!" means. They have utterly lost the ability to comprehend true needs.

Well, back to the real world - not that one, the real real one.  The one the rest of us, rich or poor, TANSTAAFL or free school lunch by necessity, live in.

About six months ago, we canceled our TV service.

First we gave up satellite TV. It would have been cable we were giving up, but we can't get cable here, so it was satellite.

I had gradually stopped watching TV altogether, but it was Paul who came up with the idea, after he figured out that he could catch every show he liked ("First 48", assorted sports, Fox News shows) by streaming them on the computer without paying extra - like the old days when rabbit ears or an antenna would pick up the network and local channels for free, like magic, just by plugging in the television set.

Except now it's still like magic, just by plugging in the thing that looks like a television set. Plus we save about $70, $80, $90 a month. Comes in handy at the gas pumps. And when the electric bill comes in during this record heat.

Next, after having a Netflix subscription for about a year, I've watched all their British mysteries on dvd (they aren't available streaming) and Paul has seen all the episodes of Lovejoy (not available streaming).  New movies aren't ever available. The things we tried to watch streaming, wouldn't complete an hour without Netflix (not our DSL internet) going down for extended periods of time. 

So when they announced yet another rate increase, and explained that they were raising rates to manipulate customers into using fewer features instead of compensating for rising costs, we looked at our own budget and cancelled Netflix.

The cost of our subscription now buys us 2 or 3 used dvds each month to add to our collection of favorites (go through your favorite blogger's site link to Amazon). And helps pay the water bill to keep the shrubs and trees alive during this drought.

We are both reading more books than we have in a long time. We've found some wonderful resources for Christian study, and discovered a whole genre of clean stand-up comedy. There's more time to do real things. There's less feeling of being addicted to flickering images and more awareness of bird song just outside our door.

Someday we'll probably join Netflix again, and someday we may get a subscription for TV service again. But for now, we don't miss either one.

And we're glad we took the big leap away from it all.

Be of Good Cheer! All Shall Be Well.

 Here's another of those posts that gets mostly finished but I never get around to posting:


"Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."

The thing about living in a Christian culture - and America is still and has always been a Christian culture - is that it colors the way we see the world, in ways we might not even realize. One need not believe in order to benefit from it. In fact, those who don't believe, or who think they don't believe, may be even more prone to not realize just how much of the good in the modern world is a direct result of Christianity, and of American Christianity in particular.

One of these influences is an understanding that things get better. God holds the American people in His hands, and He may shake things sometimes, or allow things to be shaken, but there's always a higher purpose and a better result.

Christians are optimists, there is no fatalism in our religion. Christians believe passionately in change, and that our faith in Jesus empowers change in the way our society works, by making changes in the way we as individuals approach life each day. This is what Christian Conservatism is - not becoming more "tolerant" but instead becoming knowledgeable and more optimistic!

The "American Optimism" is in fact a Christian Optimism: a view of life based on a security of being personally loved by and important to God, being intellectually and emotionally empowered by God, and having a specific mission to share that good news with every people in the world.

This overwhelming sense that all people are equal in God's sight, that it's our responsibility to help those we encounter who ask for our help, that things can and should be better for every person, and that we have the power to help make it so, has been achieved only in Christian cultures. But it wasn't achieved by government mandate - the impetus came from the pulpit and the Sunday School room: it came from The Bible, the Unchanging Word of God.

Christians know that things will get better, because that is God's promise to us again and again and unceasingly again in The Bible, that the things of the world shall pass away but the things of the spirit shall live - and shall live more abundantly.

God keeps His promises. He has fulfilled so many, He has glorified His name and He tells us that He will glorify it.


Be of good cheer. All is in God's hands. He may be calling us to GET UP and do the task our hands find to do, but He has promised beauty for ashes, plans to bring YOU hope, and a future.

So be of good cheer. Whatever Congress does or doesn't do, let it go for today. All shall be well.  Let's enjoy the day today!

 -------------

A great way to get cheered up is at Bread upon the Waters, where Miss QR has posted one of the happiest songs there is:  "I Saw the Light -- Sunday Skiffle with Brother Sonny".  Go have a listen! And if you like what you hear, check out her other Sunday posts for more great music.

Jubilee Week at Victory Life Church: Live Streaming Broadcast

One of the churches we attend hosted a "Community Prayer and Praise Service" a couple of weeks ago. This Community Prayer is held each quarter at different churches each time, and the prayer focus is on our immediate local area. It was a powerful service, attended by so many people from other churches, or who do not go to church each week.

There was no sermon, and those who came forward and led us in prayer were not preachers, but citizens and members of the professions for whom we prayed. A policeman prayed for our First Responders: police, firemen, EMTs. A school administrator prayed for our superintendants, teachers, principles, janitors and maintenance staff, cafeteria staff and others who run our schools. A married couple who own a business prayed for our local businesses, for the mall and shopping areas, for the economic health of our county. We prayed silently with each, and when the service ended, it was over.

Such services are held in most cities at some time during the year. If you do not go to church, this kind of service can still be a wonderful experience. And if you do go to church, this kind of service is something very different in purpose and function from your regular services.

Duane Sheriff Ministries leads several congregations in Oklahoma and Texas, and has a free (completely free - no shipping for US orders) CD and DVD ministry. We attend one of the congregations. If you are interested in hearing the real word of God for yourself, Pastor Duane's message is new and honest and straight from the Bible. But it is like nothing you may have heard before.

The church begins its annual JUBILEE week tonight. It is starting right now, at 7:30 PM Central Time. If you would like to listen in to the LIVE cast, go here: http://www.dsheriff.org/

Click "Watch Live" from the navigation bar and select "Live Fullscreen".

If you come to this page later, there are also options for podcasts and earlier messages.

Take A Trip Outside Your Door: The Beauty of Local Day Trips

Pat Austin @ And So It Goes In Shreveport has developed a whole series of posts of one-day jaunts to nearby small towns: the "Take A Trip" series. I've written about them before, and her posts are themselves a bit of armchair travel that can help the cares of a crazy day fall away just reading them.

This week's "Take a Trip to Natchitoches and to Melrose Plantation" has a special focus on the architecture in the area: ranging from poteaux-en-terre to post-revolutionary African Congo-style construction to antebellum churches with copper roofs to sleek new design that's a pure study in the range of light and shadow.

Set aside an hour or so to immerse yourself in the images and follow her generous links to more information. Notice the surprises: how many knew the first American plantation built by and for free Black Americans was in Louisiana shortly after the Revolutionary War? That it was the home of primitive artist Clementine Hunter? Or that Natchitoches is the oldest permanent settlement in the whole Louisiana Purchase - dating back to 1714? Or that it now boasts the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and a great independent bookstore?

In the waning years of the Baby Boomer World where so many have become "jet setters" - dashing about on holidays to exotic locations, when it comes to renewing vacations, the bluebird of Happiness is still right in our own backyard. A lovely day spent exploring the countryside around our own home can be as memorable as, and probably more meaningful to our quality of life than the All-Inclusive Here's Your Menu 4 Days 3 Nights Fantasy Cruise.

There's something renewing about walking along the corridors of our own time, the trails of our own past. As we balance on the railroad tracks of our youth and look across the graveyards of those who balanced themselves before us, there's a great opening perspective.

This is real: right here, right now. The beautiful decay of rusting sheet iron made way for the shining stars thrown by the welding torch that builds a continuing future just as bright and exciting as the past we still admire and learn from.

All we have to do is turn 180 degrees and our future waits, just one footstep further along to the horizon.

Go see it.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He Is Risen!"

The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, excerpted from Luke 24:

"...In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”Then they remembered his words.
....
"While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

"They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

"When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

"He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them,

“'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.'”

"When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God."





Image:  "The Three Marys at the Tomb" painting by Bouguereau, courtesy of FreeChristImages.org

Palm Sunday: The Beginning of Passover

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, when Christians commemorate the final days before Jesus' death and resurrection. Jesus birth was a significant event, but it is the events of Easter on which our faith is established. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

The passage quoted below, Luke 19:37-48 (GOD’S WORD Translation), summarizes Jesus trip to Jerusalem for Passover. Passover celebrates, remembers, and tells of when God rescued the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. A devout Jew, Jesus observed the Law, worshipped in the synagogues, and taught in the Temple when He was in Jerusalem. Thus, all of these ancient Holy Days coincide with additional significance for Christians.

At one point in this summary is the second mention of Jesus weeping, and He weeps for Jerusalem. Realizing that few will recognize how His mission of deliverance will be fulfilled, He is overcome with sorrow for the suffering the Jews will have to bear in coming years, when the Temple is destroyed, their homeland laid waste, and the people killed or dispersed to wander the earth again as they did after their release from Egypt.

"When he came closer and saw the city [Jerusalem], he began to cry. He said, “If you had only known today what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden, so you cannot see it. The time will come when enemy armies will build a wall to surround you and close you in on every side. They will level you to the ground and kill your people. One stone will not be left on top of another, because you didn’t recognize the time when God came to help you.” (Luke 19:41-44)

It was this level of passionate emotion that lead him to force the trinket sellers and pawn brokers to take their booths and carnival atmosphere out of the Holy Temple when He arrived to begin His teaching. He showed that the ritual of cleaning before Passover had to extend past the physical cleanliness into cleanliness of our hearts and motives, cleanliness of purpose.

"Jesus went into the temple courtyard and began to throw out those who were selling things there. He said to them, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a gathering place for thieves.”

"Jesus taught in the temple courtyard every day. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people looked for a way to kill him. But they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were eager to hear him." (Luke 19:45-48)


Photo: Antique Victorian Sunday School card illustrating Christ's arrival in Jerusalem to the acclaim of the people waving palms, as foretold in Old Testament prophecy.

"Lazarus, Come Forth!"

This Sunday the readings recall when Jesus raised from the dead the brother of his friends Mary and Martha. Here is a condensed excerpt from the Gospel of John, Chapter 11:

"Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

"... Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ....On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

"... When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

"When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

" Jesus wept.

"Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

"Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

" Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me..."

"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

"Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

"Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

"But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

" Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

"...So from that day on they plotted to take his life. "

Go here to read the entire account, with all details.

John 11, Verse 35: "Jesus wept", is the shortest verse in the Bible. It is a profound statement of Jesus' grief for his friend, his empathy for Mary and Martha, his feeling for the pain of others. I wrestled with this one for a long time - I wondered why he felt the pain and loss of grief, since Jesus knew in advance that he would raise Lazarus to life again.

But Jesus was a human man, and grief is a human emotion that responds to the immediate condition. "Any man's death diminishes me" the poet and preacher John Donne wrote.

Christians believe that Jesus was the only "perfect" human who has ever lived - the only one of us who never sinned. Part and parcel with that is pure emotional health: Jesus was not insulated from his emotions, and felt and expressed himself honestly, innocently, and righteously.

Jesus wept because his friend had died.

Like real men everywhere, he was not afraid to love, and not ashamed to cry.






Image: "The Raising of Lazarus", Painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1896

Who's to Blame?

Coincidence is a funny thing. Sometimes, it leads us from question to answer. Or from thought to confirmation.

Last night, I posted a reply to an article on Belmont club about the latest in the 2000 year old war against Christianity. The story is the monetization of a massacre by turning it into entertainment, effectively giving a media pardon to murderers who beheaded dozens of innocent people and like Pontius Pilot of old, asking the gathered crowd "Should we crucify Jesus the innocent or Barabas the known criminal?". The outcry is, of course, the same as it was then, and for the same reasons, the same as it always shall be until all have heard the Gospel, until Jesus comes again.

I wrote (links added here):

"The desperate rush to assign blame to the Nth degree is the most
anti-Christian element of the whole event. It was that, the endless and unavoidable debt slavery and retribution that Jesus' death and resurrection saved us from. He gave us freedom. Freedom to be forgiven not just for the deliberate violations of the lex du jour, but also for those acts that cause the greatest anguish: the unintended consequences of just being alive. Jesus
brought us Grace. Christianity is the only religion in the world that offers grace: this forever-and-ever pardon, this once-and-for-all-time Grace. Thank God!

"It is a great tragedy that we sent our soldiers to these wasted lands and our own government refused to allow them to carry and share the Good News, and the unimpeachable freedom it brings to every individual."

and then, this morning, I ran across an excellent Sunday talk on the same theme on a blog I haven't read before "Preaching the Lectionary". For today, the 4th Sunday in Lent, the preacher writes:

" A man has been born blind. Jesus’ disciples wonder whether this man’s or his parents’ sin has caused the blindness. Who is at fault? This is often more important to us than finding the remedy because it is easier to find fault. Jesus...healed the blind man. Notice, however, that His remedy had little to do with fault-finding...."

"... Pharisees are not just skeptical; they actually root for failure. They stand in the way of belief. They would rather disbelieve so that they may continue to indulge themselves in their fault-finding. Seeing and believing would require them to reevaluate all that they “understand.”

"...Pharisees go far beyond unbelief. They want to police the beliefs of others. After questioning the man healed of blindness, they drove him out of the synagogue. They could not abide by the truth because it was not their “truth.” "

Read it all by clicking here.

The story of the man who had been born blind, and the questioning of who caused it can easily be found in headline after today's headline, in speech after White House speech, in movie after Made For TV Movie.

But there comes a time, as I once wrote in a poem,

"...when you live like that
and life's just something you do,
the whole thing gets to be kinda mercenary.

And you look around for somebody to blame
but there isn't anyone
but yourself.

And after a while, you realize that you
can't even take it on yourself, so there's
all this sorrow
and no place for it to go.

And that's why Jesus came. "


Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us! God bless you today, and always.

Progressive Despair vs Judeo-Christian Hope and a Future: Confession as Freedom

Gagdad Bob, of the blog One Cosmos, discusses Vanderleun's musings on the enshrinement of the seven deadly sins by the progressive left, and continues a series in which he expands on the ways in which each infect our world - and our souls - today. There's a common element in the activities, plans and machinations of progressives around the world: the inability to see a future. (Bob also approaches this topic here.)

My own thoughts:

We live in a time of incredible portent. The technological revolution has made commonplace the restoration of sight to the blind, the acquisition of knowledge at rates exceeding the reach of the most brilliant minds, and the expansion of economic wealth for ordinary people beyond the dreams of ancient kings. My little blog receives visitors from every continent. Each day, a new frontier is breached. How can we not look toward a future even brighter than that we've already lived?

And yet the progressive search for doom has trapped itself in an unrelenting "opposite day", turning its back to the sun and declaring shadows as substance. Destroying even the fundamental hope of pregnancy and childbearing, they can no longer really speak of the future, or even, of Now.

Where did it go wrong? The farther these elements of society wander from the Judeo-Christian point of view, the more intently they scrutinize the past for those curiously desperate accusations to make against... anyone, really, of integrity, of personal wholeness, of true good. In the parlance of the Charismatics, they become "the accuser of the brethren".

It's vengeance, of course, the stuff of unending feuds, but so strangely expressed in contorted histories of disjointed embroidered moments. Much of what is labeled "justice" is simply revenge, and revenge is insatiable. There is no hope in that, no future, just an endless turning of the millstones of the past.

But the future does, indeed, exist, it is hopeful, it is attainable.

The future belongs to the ordinary, the conservative, the traditional: the people who accept the past will inherit the future.

Christianity, and Judaism from which Jesus was born, understand the past as real, concrete proof of God's work in the world and our role within it. Christians understand that God sees all of our actions, that in the end of time, we will each be called to give an accounting, and face the Judgment of God for every error and evil we have done or thought, including - and perhaps especially - the most secret.

Christians also know we need not fear this, because Jesus Christ Himself faced that judgment on our behalf, is our advocate, and put Himself in our place.

Having this understanding that there are no secrets, that all secrets eventually come to light, colors our approach to the world. It develops the conscience, and the capacity for courage, it protects personal innocence and integrity.

We are taught to try to live so that we don't have anything to hide, and just as important: to admit out loud to other people when we do miss the mark. To confess our sins - not in defense when faced with accusers, never in attempt to save ourselves from the mob - but in advance, to make them known by our own volition, when those sins are still hidden and unknown, to someone we respect so that we can admit the shame.

All Christian denominations practice some form of confession, whether spontaneously to the gathered congregation at an evening altar call, privately to one's minister, or to a priest through sacramental Confession.

One does not have to be a Christian for confession of wrongdoing or wrongthinking to restore the health of the spirit and the power over the mob. The same principle is a key element of Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps, which shares with Christianity the insistence on assuming real personal responsibility for wrongdoing and the need for support from a Power greater than ourselves to live in harmony with ourselves and our fellow men.

By confessing to someone else even before anyone knows, we grow immediately stronger. We become confident and remove the fear and regret that guilty secrets cause. We know ourselves better and have more courage and more honesty. We walk in good faith - in Good Faith - in the sunshine again.

Suddenly, we are invulnerable, back in God's light, because we control our own destiny - and we know it. No one can blackmail us or harm us by gossip or rumor for we have no hidden guilt. We can accept the worldly consequences knowing God has forgiven us. Neither crowds nor mobs can intimidate us. Those who try will be confounded. We are freed to do our best work, enjoy our best life.

Thus it is not unusual to see men and women stand before a congregation and give their testimony: sharing their shame and their redemption, that others might share their courage as well, and take part in the Great Forgiveness that makes life - and a genuine future - possible.

And what of Judgment Day?
Our Lord said "Now is the judgment of this world."
and we are in the Now, for He has come,
and comes always.
A choice must be made. Now.
And yet,
and yet, it is not and never too late to turn
and beg a brighting glance from The Son
Who shields the searing rapture
and offers a place near the Fire:
a safe place,
a warm place,
wherein the dark can't hide,
wherein all quiet bides,
and all find Peace.

He has Called me, and I came
from out of the darkness,
a creature of the shade:
blinking, fearful, shy.
He wrapped me in a washed-soft quilt
and cuddled like a child, I drowse,
breathing to His Whisper.



Poem by Tina Howard

God Bless The Weekend: Saving our Endangered Days Off Together

Those who wish to pretend that Christianity is not the root of all that is best in Western culture, or that America was not founded and formed as a Christian nation forget, or have not understood, that the Holy Sabbath mandated in the 10 Commandments is the only reason workers in the Western world have a day off every week - and workers in countries that never adopted Christianity as a majority faith still cannot expect to be given one day off to have for their own.

For thousands of years in Jewish and Christian societies, everyone - even the poorest, even indentured servants and slaves (before the Christian world - and no other - freed all slaves and set the precedent the rest of the world has not yet caught up with) - even in those times, everyone was entitled to a day off every week.

For centuries, American States had "Blue Laws" that prohibited the sale of certain non-essential merchandise on Sundays. These laws protected businesses from the need to compete for Sunday business, and were thus welcomed by merchants as well as their employees.

The concept of taking Saturday and Sunday together in the weekend as we know it arose in America in various locations where Christians and Jews united to respect both Sabbath and Shabbat. As Jewish immigration increased and the Industrial Revolution led to greater demand for constant labor, America's devout Jewish population needed the same protection for their religious observance. In the tumultuous early days of the 20th century, Jewish leaders joined with labor unions to promote the five-day work week - and the standard weekend - as a uniform practice across industry.

Consistent two-day weekends enabled people of all major American faiths (and those of other religions, and non-believers) to share this time off: Jews as well as Christians, Seventh Day Adventists as well as Baptists, Catholics as well as Mormons. All Americans could perchance meet each other through shared leisure time, and common endeavors for their free hours.

By assuring that the day off was the same for everyone and every class of people, a common culture promoted community, neighborliness, family life and time to rest, relax and enjoy life together.

The American Weekend is endangered: another unnoticed consequence of the persistent drive to de-Christianize the USA.
33 out of every 100 Americans has to work on Saturday or Sunday or both (according to a 2004 study on the detrimental effects of non-traditional work schedules). Those people, and their families, may "not mind" the schedule, but they lose out on the shared family and community leisure time and activities that are much of the joy in life.

If you have ever worked different shifts from that your spouse or friends work, or had to have different days off than the rest of the world, you know how much you miss out on. Not having Saturdays and Sundays off, or at least one of the weekend days, isolates us from everyone we care about.

In today's "not an employee" employment climate, where 40 hour work weeks and paid holidays or paid vacation are more rare than ever before, fewer and fewer can afford to take a day off without pay to make a short trip with their family, camp out overnight, or go to a wedding, or spend the day in the park playing volleyball.

So if you love your weekends, if you are "working for the weekend", and want to keep having Saturday and Sunday to spend with the people you love best, thank the Christian way of life, and thank your company for continuing to adhere to the traditional weekend.

You don't have to be a believer to save the weekend by supporting those businesses who close on Sundays, like McCoy's Building Supply Centers, Chick-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby, and those local businesses in your own town.

If you know of businesses that close on Sundays, feel free to post in the comments.

Christmas for a Sharecropper's Orphan: The Salvation Army, Then and Now

The 1920's - "the Roaring Twenties" - was a boom time, much like the 1980's or the 2000's, the communications and manufacturing revolution was going on, prohibition stoked a powerful illicit economy, lots of people had money and the stock market saw massive inputs from young, inexperienced traders. Many fortunes were being made - in theory. Mostly, the money was available for people engaged in emerging industries or occupations, or who were dishonest enough to be smugglers or distillers. Those in traditional occupations continued to live much as they had for the prior 50 years.

My grandfather's family were poor during this time. There were 8 children in the family, and Nandy was in the middle. Nandy's father was a share-cropper in East Texas and Southern Oklahoma.

At that time - around 1900 through until 1940 - seventy per cent of all farmers in the whole region were share croppers. Race had nothing to do with it - then as now, money, effort, ingenuity and plain luck were the deciding factors between poverty and wealth. People who could not afford to buy land worked for those who did. Everyone I have ever known who was born before 1935 picked cotton at some time in their lives.

This is Nandy's story of Christmas when he was 8 years old in 1922, and the part The Salvation Army played in it. While other "charities" have forgotten their mission, only The Salvation Army still focuses on precisely the same people & needs they always did.

From "Precious Memories" by Sidney Gilstrap:

"We finally arrived in East Texas [in 1921] and stayed at Grandma and Pappy Bruton's until Papa could find a "share-crop" farm for us to live on. A Share-crop farm is one that the owner furnishes the farming tools and buys all the seed to plant a crop with. A share-crop farmer is one who works the farm, planting, plowing, and harvesting the crop. He also takes care of the farm, such as clearing land, building fences and things like this. All profits are shared half to the owner and the other half to the farmer. This and a house to live in is the farmer's pay. The better the crop, the better the pay.

"Papa had to clear nearly all the land of trees and underbrush. Most of this was done with an ax and crosscut saw. There were no such things as chain saws. It was all done the hard way, by hand. The larger trees were cut for firewood for cooking and heating. There was no such thing as natural gas, propane or electricity, especially in the country.

"Our new home was a three room house (almost new), with a porch all across the front... Our house was located on the West side of East Mountain, right at the foot of it. There was a small creek about 200 feet between our house and the mountain. It had little waterfalls and was spring fed. This was our water supply as there was no well at the house.

[After about a year in East Texas, the family moved back to Cornish (near Ringling) Oklahoma, and Papa found another farm to share crop.]

"In the Spring, Papa was plowing and getting the ground ready for planting. Back then, it was done with horses pulling a plow and the farmer walking behind the plow and guiding it. Nothing but old hard work for a farmer in those days. One morning the weather was cold and misty and Papa worked until about noon. He came to the house with chills and fever that developed into pneumonia. Old Dr. Dorsey came (by horse and buggy) but he couldn't help Papa. This was on April 13, 1922. ...

"I remember Papa as kind, gentle, pleasant, and a hard worker. He would kid with us and we always had a good time when he was around. We missed him for a long time....

[His mom then took the children and moved to Denison, where she had family.]

"Mom got a job at a peanut factory and Lester [older brother] and I got us a job selling papers in the afternoons. [In the summer when school was out] we would also go down to the Farmers Market and get vegetables and cantalopes to carry up and down the streets to sell. We had to carry them in tow sacks. We would get a percentage of what we sold. Sometimes we sold some and sometimes we didn't.

"Mom's job didn't last long, so she got another one at the cotton mill. They made cloth out of cotton. We moved to the other side of town [close to] the factory and close to school too.

"We spent our first Christmas without Papa there and it looked like it would be just another day. We were just barely getting by and nothing to spend for Christmas. We all knew that. On Christmas morning, I went out on the front porch. I couldn't believe what I saw. There were two large boxes with all kinds of goodies, toys, clothing and food in them. No one could have made me believe that there was no Santa Claus.

"I found out, later, it was the Salvation Army that brought our Christmas to us. I still have a very warm spot in my heart for them. They are still helping families like we were. In those days [1922], there was no such thing as welfare, food stamps, Social Security, WIC, AFDC, or any kind of government assistance for the needy."

And today, 90 years later, the Salvation Army stills puts its first interest into sheltering people no one else will help, and giving needy people a real Christmas. The Salvation Army is the only organization all over the country that provides transient men a safe and warm place to sleep for a couple of days. They also help with disaster aid, work therapy, locator services to reunite families with loved ones, meals, and many many other essential daily needs.

They don't pay their administrators outrageous salaries and they don't do it for publicity.

When we went through Hurricane Claudette, the Salvation Army helped us and our neighbors. The hurricane was stronger than expected, and by the time it was over on Monday the area looked like a war zone. Power was out everywhere, many were without water too, and several of our neighbors' homes had been destroyed.

The Salvation Army showed up in our tiny beach community on Wednesday morning and fed hot, cooked meals three times a day for the rest of the week until power was restored and everyone had decent living arrangements.

They refused to take a single dime for the food, made no test of need, and would not even accept donations. They were the only outside group to help our community. None of the "famous" organizations or agencies came, not even to look around.

So we put money in every bell ringer's pot, going in and coming out. They've been there for us, and we want to be there for them.

God Bless the Salvation Army.


*Photo: "Papa, Mom, and Rosalie" (Thomas Lester Gilstrap, Minnie Lee Bruton Gilstrap, and youngest daughter Rosalie).