Anti-Christian Persecution

Congressman James Michael (Mike) Johnson (R-LA) was elected Speaker Of the House by his peers on 25 October 2023.  Beginning in 2016, he has been repeatedly elected to the US House of Representatives by the legally registered voters in the Fourth Congressional District (Louisiana) he represents.  One would hope that the results of these elections might be respected; at least until Congressman Johnson has had the opportunity to demonstrate his intent by his actions as Speaker.  That has not been the case. 

In his acceptance speech Speaker Johnson was open and honest about his Christian faith.  He also pointed out that the Holy Bible says that those who govern are in positions of leadership because God causes (or allows) them to be. (Romans 13:1-7, 1Peter 2:14-17)  He was not suggesting some sort of Christian theocracy.  He did not exclude those in positions of governmental authority who follow other religious traditions.  He was just being honest about his belief that our leaders need to work together in good faith to get the people’s business done; because that is what God put them there to do. 

Almost immediately, the liberals in the media, the liberal thinktanks, and in politics went on the attack.  There was an opening to throw a punch, and they threw it.  There is a lot of anti-Christian bias in secular society, and the liberals could not resist an opportunity to tap into it. 

There are other things about Speaker Johnson’s legal career and history of public service as a legislator that could have been the focus or their objections.  Instead, they chose to focus on his Christianity. 

For instance, he has only served in Congress for about six years, and he has less experience than other recent speakers. [1] As a lawyer, he represented groups that were against abortion and same-sex marriage. [2]  He has opposed continued funding for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.  He supports Donald Trump, and he helped to contest the results of the 2020 presidential election. [3] 

While his public life is consistent his Christian worldview, it is also consistent with the views of the more conservative wing of the Republican party.  Why has the primary focus been on his Christianity and not on his conservatism? 

The Speaker’s belief in Creationism has been a particular source of ridicule and derision.  Hey, secular world!  Lots of people believe that creation cannot be explained without a Creator.  We do not think that Creationism has been debunked by Evolutionary Theory or the so-called “Big Bang Theory.”  The operative word there is theory - which is an unproved speculation about reality.  In fact, Creationists are often informed people who simply believe in a different explanation of how we got here [4], and they should not be the subject of ridicule. 

We do not hear the religious beliefs of Independents like Tulsi Gabbard (Gudiya Vishnu Hindu) , or Republicans like Nikki Haley (Methodist from a Sikh background) and Vivek Ramaswami (Monotheistic Hindu) called into question with regard to their possible influence on policy making. 

The religious beliefs of Democrats Ilhan Omar (Muslim) and Rashida Talib (Muslim) have come under scrutiny, due to their support of the Palestinians and opposition to the Israelis.  Rather than their religion, however, the focus of most of the criticism has been on their opposition to much of American domestic and foreign policy, their alignment with Wokeism, and their membership in a group of left-wing Congressional Representatives called “The Squad.” 

The dust up over Speaker Johnson’s Christian beliefs begs the question, “Can a Christian who is candid about their faith hold a high office in today’s United States of America?”  Government officials, businesspeople, and ordinary citizens who take a stand for their Savior are called homophobes, racists, Islamophobes, haters, and fascists.  They are likened to the Ku Klux Klan and the theocratic rulers in Iran.  Christian politicians who support parents that object to the Wokeist indoctrination of their children in the schools about critical race theory and gender transition are accused of supporting “domestic terrorism.” 

The answer to the question is that the persecution of American Christians is not imminent.  It is already happening.  Be ready brothers and sisters in Christ.  Be ready. 

 

 

---

[1] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/who-is-new-speaker-of-the-house-mike-johnson/

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-is-mike-johnson-new-republican-us-house-speaker-2023-10-25/

[4] See: the documentaries: Unlocking the Mystery of Life, The Privileged Planet, and Darwin’s Dilemma offered as a DVD collection by Ilustra Media.

It Figures

It is always the same.  Terrorists savagely attack Israel, and then they use civilian populations as human shields.  The Israelis counterattack, trying to defend themselves.  Then the world takes the side of the terrorists, condemning Israel for war crimes resulting in the death and injury of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.  The truth is that the fault for the death and destruction presently happening in Gaza rests on Hamas, not on Israel. If they hadn’t started nothin’, there wouldn’t be nothin’. (Sic.) 

The world is calling for de-escalation and a ceasefire, thus denying Israel the right to defend itself.  It figures. It happens over and over, every time. 

When Israel continues to pursue its attackers, the United Nations (UN) steps in. [1] [2] Sooner or later, the UN usually passes resolutions condemning Israel, and demanding an end to the fighting.  Nations and private individuals boycott trade with Israel.  Investors divest themselves of their investments in Israel.  Some nations, like Iran, threaten to join in attacking Israel. 

Eventually, when they are on the cusp of victory, the Unites States (US) pressures Israel into breaking off their counterattack and withdrawing from “occupied” areas.  The result is that the underlying conditions that are perpetuating the ongoing, sporadic warfare never get resolved, and the cycle repeats itself. 

The world buys the lie that Israel is a colonial, occupying power, and is, therefore, responsible for the conflict.  The world buys the lie that the brutal Islamist terrorist attacks are justified by Israeli “oppression.”  In fact, the lawless acts of the terrorists are so vile that nothing – nothing – provides sufficient grounds to justify them. 

The US pressures Israel to bring an end to hostilities and withdraw its troops from all “occupied” territories, however, when we were attacked by terrorists we invaded and conquered two countries.  Then, it took 20 years for us to leave.  Seems a little hypocritical, doesn’t it. 

The Bible says that wrongdoing is sin. (1John 5:17)  Those who continue in sin are of the devil. (1John 3:8)  That is they are serving Satan.  The people of the world buy the devil’s lies because Satan was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, and they delude themselves into believing lies because they belong to the devil.  They will not hear the truth because they refuse to listen to the truth.  (John 8:42-47) 

Hear the truth. The latest iteration of this ongoing conflict, beginning on 7 October 2023, was not initiated by Israel.  Hamas began the current fighting.  They murdered families in their beds.  They burned people alive.  They kidnapped over 200 civilians, and they are still holding them hostage.  They raped women publicly, and they disfigured the dead.  They murdered the elderly.  They murdered babies and cut off their heads.  They laughed and celebrated while they were doing it.  They sent “selfies” to their families as if to say, “Look Ma! I killed a Jew.”  This is what people do when they are doing Satan’s bidding. 

If Israel is pressured into a premature ceasefire, it will happen again.  Maybe it will be worse.  This time Israel must be allowed to finish the job of eliminating Hamas; and perhaps Hezbollah, too … in their own way and in their own time.  The US must provide enough support to Israel to ensure their complete and total victory. 

Fellow Americans, when Israel fights Hamas and other Iranian proxies, they are doing our fighting for us.  If they are not allowed to get the job done, the terrorists will bring the fight to us.  It is only a matter of time. 

The Islamist terrorists are not just slaughtering people in Israel.  They are committing atrocities against “infidels” in Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, other African countries, and around the world.  Understand that, during the 20^th and 21^st centuries, Jewish and Christian communities that have existed in the Middle East for hundreds of years have been crushed, and the surviving inhabitants have been driven out.  The Middle East is almost completely Islamic. 

Data shows a spike in the apprehension of suspected terrorists attempting to enter the United States illegally.[3]  Most of the articles I read indicate that our greatest threat is from domestic terrorists.  That seems to be what our government would have us believe.  I would just like to remind readers that the worst terrorist attacks in US history were on 11 September 2001, and they were perpetrated by foreign terrorists.  If you think that what is happening in Israel can’t happen here, you are wrong.  Let’s hope you are not dead wrong.

---

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/24/un-calls-for-immediate-ceasefire-to-end-epic-suffering-in-gaza

 [2] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/occupied-gaza-strip-un-committee-calls-immediate-ceasefire-and-urges-end

 [3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-mexico-border-terrorists/

 

Fish or Cut Bait

I am registered to vote as a Republican.  There are several reasons, but these are the two most important.  The biggest reason I “align” with the Republican Party is that its platform and candidates for office match my values as a Christian and a Conservative more closely than any of the other alternatives.  A secondary consideration is that I live in Southwest Idaho, which is predominantly Republican.  If you want a voice about who is going to be elected, you must vote in the Republican primary.  If you vote in the Democratic primary you may get to help pick the Democratic candidates, but in most cases, they will not be the candidates that are elected. 

Occasionally, I send the Republican Party a small financial contribution.  I am caring for a disabled wife, and I am not able to do volunteer work.  We are “retired and on a fixed income,” so we cannot give very much.  It is like the Biblical story of the Widow’s Mite in Luke 21:1-4.  What we give comes out of what we have to live on.  They send me cards that say I am a party member, although I never asked to be. 

We elect U.S. Congressional Representatives every two years, a President every four years, and U.S. Senators every six years.  During the time before each election, the candidates and the political pundits on the news programs tell us that, “This election is the most important election in history.”  We are given to believe that the future of the United States, and even our very existence as a nation, rests on the outcome of that very election. 

We are told that the opposition party will destroy the country, provoke World War III, and turn our government from a democracy into a totalitarian dictatorship - or at least into an oligarchy.  We are urged to elect Republicans, or Democrats as the case may be, in order to save the country from the forces of evil on the other political side. 

The need for the cable news program “hosts” to have something interesting to talk about for 24 hours a day, seven days a week encourages exaggerated rhetoric that is dividing our people in ways they might never have dreamed possible before the Vietnam War.  Our enemies fund extremist groups that exploit our divisions by organizing “peaceful” demonstrations that somehow always become violent. 

Like Chicken Little, we become convinced that the sky is falling.  Stimulated by political deceptions, our angst overrides our common sense. 

Without giving sway to panic, I honestly believe that the Democrats have gone off the rails.  I think that in some weird, misguided effort to remake America into a Socialist society, their policies put our future at risk.  We Republican voters elect our fellow Republicans to national office because we want them to stop the Democrats from destroying the American way of life. 

After they are elected, however, the Republicans squander the opportunities we give them to restore sanity to our government.  Rather than fixing the problems, or at least preventing the Democrats from doing more harm, the Republicans spend their time and energy devouring each other. 

I am imploring all Republicans to hang together like the Democrats do.  Find common ground, and then honor the agreements that were made to achieve consensus.  When you do the public’s business, present a united front.  It is time for Republicans to fish or cut bait.

Depravity

If there was no other evidence that humankind has a depraved and sinful nature, the atrocities committed in Israel by Hamas over the last week or two would be sufficient.  No matter how wronged people believe themselves to be, no wrong suffered could justify the beheading of even one poor, defenseless little baby.  Murder, rape, disfigurement, mutilation of the dead, and hostage taking are beyond vile barbarism.  They are not worthy to be called human behavior.  Therefore, we call them inhuman.  Mere words cannot, however, adequately convey the disgust we feel.

Are these brutalities really inhuman, though?  If they are done by human beings, are they not human behavior?  True, it is human behavior of the worst kind, but unless we are willing to dehumanize the depraved, we must acknowledge what the behavior is - human. 

Carefully now.  If we dehumanize any human being, no matter how sickening their actions are, do we not dehumanize ourselves as well?  We are all cut from the same cloth, are we not?  In our fallen, sinful nature haven’t we all done some reprehensible things?  So, is it a matter of degree then?  The Bible points out that there is no degree to sin, and all sin eventually leads to death. (James 1:13-15, James 2:10-11) 

God will forgive any sin, except rejecting Jesus.  If we believe in Jesus Christ we will not perish, and if we repent, and confess our sins to God, He will forgive us.  Believers, however, must not continue in a sinful style of living.                          (John 3:16, 1John 1:8-10, 1John 5:16-18) 

Some believe that the Palestinians are the aggrieved party in the conflict with Israel. Others believe that Israel has the “moral high ground.”  The streets are full of them, waving flags and carrying signs.  To their shame, there are those who would turn a blind eye to the war crimes Hamas committed.  To reiterate, however, nothing can justify what Hamas did – nothing. 

Yet, no matter how hard it is to accept, God’s love is so great that even these fiends can be forgiven.  Please join me in prayer for the people of Israel, the victims and their families, that God will comfort them in their loss and protect them from future harm.  Please pray with me, also, that the perpetrators of these horrible atrocities will realize the total depravity of what they have done, repent, and come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Rest for the Soul

Are you weary of life’s troubles?  Are your shoulders aching from the burden you carry?  Do you long to be free from the chaos your sinful style of living has created in your life?  Are you amazed at the blindness of the world - our leaders, the intellectual community, and the money-mad, sex-crazed, drug addicted, technology-dependent society we live in?  Are you spending your life serving evil, rather than good?  Do you long for a change? 

If we repent and humbly come to Jesus with a child-like heart, He will show us the way to peace and the assurance of an eternity of joy in His presence. 

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. 

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:25-29 NIV) [1] 

As the hymn Power in the Blood by Lewis E. Jones goes: 

Verse 1

Would you be free from the burden of sin?

There's pow'r in the blood, pow'r in the blood;

Would you o'er evil a victory win?

There's wonderful pow'r in the blood.

Refrain:

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Verse 2:

Would you be free from your passion and pride?

There's pow'r in the blood, pow'r in the blood;

Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide–

There's wonderful pow'r in the blood. 

Refrain:

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Verse 4:

Would you do service for Jesus, your King?

There's pow'r in the blood, pow'r in the blood;

Would you live daily His praises to sing?

There's wonderful pow'r in the blood.

Refrain:

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the blood of the Lamb;

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r

In the precious blood of the Lamb. [2]

Please do as Jesus said.  Come to Him and He will give you rest.

---

[1] https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/11.htm

[2] https://hymnary.org/text/would_you_be_free_from_the_burden_jones

 

Love and Marriage

 STOP: If you are under 18 years of age get your parents’ permission before you read this post.

The older I get the more I realize that life is full of pitfalls, mistakes, stumbling blocks, and rabbit holes.  I have made enough mistakes in life that it would be hypocritical for me to judge others. (Matthew 7:1-5)  The following is not intended to pass judgement, belittle, or condemn anyone.  I hope it will be taken in the spirit in which it is intended … which is to gently give others insight into the Word of God and His will for our lives. 

Jesus’ prohibition against judging others does not mean that Christians must suspend critical thought or spiritual discernment.  We are given God’s Holy Word, the Bible, as a guide by which we can know how God wants us to live our lives.  For the Christian, the Holy Bible is the ultimate and final authority that supersedes all others. 

Judgement is the Lord’s job.  The Bible tells us that we all will stand before the Lord for judgement (2Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10); Christians for their reward (Romans 8:1, Psalm 103:10-12, John 5:24, Ephesians 6:8), and unbelievers for punishment (Revelation 20:7-15).  Everything we have done in this life will be made known … everything (Luke 12:2-3).  Yet, because Jesus’ righteousness has been substituted for our failure to live according to God’s holy standards, we can come before Him with confidence in our redemption (1John 4:15-19). 

God’s Word tells us that Christians have a duty to lovingly warn others – believer and unbeliever alike - if they are disobeying Him.  If we fail to warn, we share the responsibility for their disobedience, (see our post on Friday, 28 July 2023). 

Same sex marriage has become a controversial issue here in the United States.  Those opposed point out that it violates our traditional values and was virtually unheard of until recent times.  They worry that their parental rights are being taken away because our public schools refuse to let them opt their children out of classes that advocate for acceptance of same sex marriage and “gender identity” issues.  They point out that it violates the tenants of most of the world’s major religions.  Those in favor argue that people have the right to love anyone they choose, and that opposition to same sex marriage is no less bigoted than opposition to interracial marriage was a generation or two ago.  They say that one person’s religious beliefs are not binding on the person who believes differently, and that people should not be allowed to impose their religious beliefs on others. 

Activist groups in the United States have attempted to use the law to force Christian business owners to participate in same sex weddings against their sincerely held religious beliefs.  This has stiffened the resistance to nation-wide legalization of same sex marriage.  People wonder, what’s next?  Will attempts be made to force Christian Ministers, Muslim Imams, or Jewish Rabbis to officiate at same sex marriages? 

The Holy Bible tells us that from the beginning of creation God provided us with His plan for marriage: 

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.  Then the man said, 

“At last this is bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called ‘woman,’

Because she was taken out of man.” 

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.  And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.               (Genesis 2:18-25 NAS) [1] 

When Jesus talked about marriage, it was always in the context of a union between a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4-6, Matthew 5:32).  The Epistles (letters) in the new testament contain many references to marriage, but there is not one single mention of same sex marriage in any of them. 

It is wrong to condemn (judge) anyone.  However, Jesus has given me the love and courage needed to warn others that: 

“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”             (Hebrews 10:31 NAS) 

I have lived long enough to understand that individual sexual preferences vary.  My job is not to judge anyone.  It is to help people find the way to escape the coming divine judgement of God.  Jesus gives us victory.  We do not need to be enslaved by our lust.  Those Jesus sets free are free indeed.  Please believe in Jesus Christ and be saved today.   

---

[1] https://biblehub.com/nasb_/genesis/2.htm

 

A Haiku of Praise

 Praise God for Autumn

For good food and cool weather

His grace knows no end