The CRAWFORD STAND podcast

Christianity in America - The Denominations

Surveys indicate Christianity in America is on the grow. The surveys also indicate the growth is occurring among Gen-Z. So then, where is this spiritual growth actually occurring? For sure, it is not happening among the old, staid denominations where the church, for the most part, continues to be traditional, ritual, predictable, and in the words of one, boring. Renewal and revival of Christianity in America is coming primarily from non-denominational churches and spirit-filled Pentecostal movements. Those growth churches are offering experiential expressions of faith, real Biblical experiences different from and better than the traditional American protestant denominations. At one time, non-denominational Christian churches consisted of approximately 5% of American protestants (1972). Today, those growing non-denominational churches comprise of roughly 30% of all such protestant churches. Why is such growth occurring, wondered the pundits and especially the non-believers. The answer is simple. Those churches function under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit where the real, vital, saving, forgiving Gospel of Jesus Christ is believed and preached. Pentecostal churches are growing. The Assemblies of God, among the many spirit-filled churches reported growth in: 1. CHURCH SERVICE ATTENDANCE 2. NEW MEMBERSHIP 3. CONVERSIONS AND SAVING EXPERIENCES 4. BAPTISMS 5. THE BUILDING OF NEW CHURCHES So many people, including the young from Gen-Z, want the real Christianity or nothing at all. Spirit-filled Pentecostal movements offer Christian reality, even as so many churches in denominations turn woke, liberal, social, even political in emphasis and so often replace the Gospel with social agendas. The church should be where the real Gospel is preached, where real spirit-led worship occurs, and where the soul is satisfied and blessed. Holiness and Pentecostal churches reported at least 4% growth in all the above categories, and these non-denominational churches far outperformed the old-line denominational churches. These non-denominational churches are “functionally charismatic” even if they do not describe themselves as Pentecostal. They do not belong to Assemblies of God or THE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, or foursquare, but their worship styles and theology clearly emphasize expressive worship, spiritual gifts, and direct encounters with God. The real Gospel, the Holy-Spirit-led worship characterizes the beliefs and the worship services of these growing non-denominational Christian churches. In years past, surveys indicate the younger generations (Gen-Z and more) were indifferent and turned off by Christianity and Christian worship. This may have been the case, but then came the growth of these non-denominational, spirit-filled, spiritually-experiential Christian churches, and therefore membership and involvement dramatically increased. The surveys indicate this younger, non-denominational church-goer and worshipper was significantly more diverse than many of the membership in the historic and traditional protestant denomination. These surveys indicated only 60% of the new non-denominational church worshippers where white. Many of the new worshippers were Hispanic, African American, or even Asian. This new spirit-filled church was truly the right example of diversity in race and ethnicity, equity and equality among all men and women in worship, and the inclusion of all (DEI) in worship led by the Holy Spirit, belief in and the preaching of the real Gospel, and where the Bible ruled. People today are hungry for the real Gospel, the real worship experience, for real Bible teaching. The real Gospel would have us as believers rejoice, be glad, be happy, be exuberant in our faith. The real Gospel, as Jesus said, would have us live life abundantly, emotionally, lovingly. These spirit-filled non-denominational churches offer this spiritual reality and more. The growth in non-denominational churches was incredible. In 2010, there were some 35,000 such churches and congregations. Today, there are 44,000 non-denominational church congregations in America, with an estimated 21 million members and worshipers. 21 MILLION soul-satisfied congregants and adherents. PRAISE THE LORD! Churches exist for one reason only: to proclaim Biblical truth, the real Gospel, the salvation experience, the forgiveness and reconciliation to God the Father, and to worship, all of which allow for direct encounters with the very God and the Son, Jesus Christ. These churches offer this and everything real in Scripture, which is why they are growing, and the growth has only just begun. PRAISE THE LORD!

The Ressurection

Easter is over, you say. And so it is. But the Easter event, THE RESURRECTION, is the most important event by far for every Christian. It should be celebrated every day, not just one or a week or weekend, EVERY DAY! That is so because the NATURAL MAN (and woman) mocks the resurrection every day, angrily disagrees with it, and even expresses open hatred for the Christ of glory, the UP FROM THE GRAVE Jesus Christ. The resurrection, to this disbeliever, this atheist, is nothing more than a myth, a story made up, fabricated 2,000 years ago, and perpetrated every day in this day in age. Every time I discuss the resurrection with any avowed atheist, they mock the greatest event in human history. When you discuss the resurrection, does that atheistic angry reaction happen to you, does it? But, says the Scripture, if Christ is not risen from the grave, then our faith, yours and mine and all mankind, is in vain. Nothing else matters if the resurrection was not real, NOTHING. We would wander through life without compass, without truth, without permanent change and guidelines for our lives. But He does live, this Jesus of Nazareth, and He was, in fact, resurrected. The resurrection is not something hoped for as Truth, I argue gently with my unbelieving friends, but an actual fact, a historical fact. UP FROM THE GRACE HE AROSE! And He does, in fact, live forever with His saints to reign. There is, my fellow Christians, hard evidence, clear historical fact, that our Lord rose from the grave on the third day. Without that, we, in our faith, are nothing. IT IS TRUE. The evidence for the resurrection is based on the testimonies of more than 500 people who testified they saw and experienced Jesus alive. That human evidence occurred in a period of 40 days following the resurrection. Testify to that to the unbeliever. There were those who not only saw Him, but talked to Him, dined with Him, and listened carefully to His post-resurrection preaching. And, there were those who saw and believed who did not formerly believe. One was James, the half-brother of Jesus, who doubted and denied Him. James became a passionate believer when he saw the Resurrected Christ. Then there was DOUTBING THOMAS. He needed fleshly evidence. When he saw the nail-pierced Jesus, doubting Thomas doubted no more and believed. 2 Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdolene at the empty tomb that blessed Sunday morning. Our Lord’s second appearance was to the OTHER WOMEN and THE OTHER MARY, and then, to Joanna, and Mary the Mother of James, and other unnamed women. These women were eyewitnesses of the Risen Lord. Thrilled, they testified and told the disciples, and Peter, and so many others. Then, Jesus appeared to two men on the road to Emmaus on that resurrection Sunday afternoon, the one named Cleopas. And then, Jesus appeared to Peter, and to the 11 Apostles, without doubting Thomas, and then with him. And then, Jesus appeared to 500 people at once, and then a personal appearance to James, the half-brother to the Christ himself, and, finally, to the 11 Disciples before He ascended to heaven. ALL HISTORICAL FACTS, MY FELLOW CHRISTIANS, THE PROOF, THE EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION! IN FACT, Christ is Risen, and He clearly and factually tells us: “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.” Indeed He is. Clear, convincing, and certain EVIDENCE of the resurrection, so that your faith and mine is NOT IN VAIN. It is real, saving, and the most certain and important fact in this entire life of ours. Believe it, never doubt it, never compromise it, and testify to this incredible Truth any opportunity you have. He lives, we firmly believe, and He lives within our hearts. As the old song so well says, DAILY HE WALKS WITH ME, TALKS WITH ME, AND ASSSURES ME AS FRIEND, BROTHER, TEACHER, AND SAVIOR. So today, my fellow Christian, walk proudly and lovingly in the Truth. Testify to the reality of your Living Lord, not just at Easter, but every day you are privileged to live, and live with Him. You can say then, without a doubt: I KNOW IN WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED! Tell any Believer that you know, YOU KNOW He lives, for Jesus Christ rose from the grave and HE LIVES WITHIN YOUR HEART, does He not?

Memorial Day

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May, echoing the words and sentiments of the proclamation of General John A. Logan of the grand Army of the Republic in 1868 who stated: “MEMORIAL DAY IS DESIGNATED FOR THE PURPOSE OF STREWING WITH FLOWERS OR OTHERWISE DECORATING THE GRAVES OF COMRADES WHO DIED IN DEFENSE OF THEIR COUNTRY DURING THE LATE REBELLION (THE CIVIL WAR) AND WHOSE BODIES NOW LIE IN ALMOST EVERY CITY, VILLAGE AND HAMLET, CHURCH YARD IN THE LAND.” So it is that the primary purpose of Memorial Day is to strew with flowers, literally and figuratively, the graves and memories of America’s daring defenders. They, the fallen, died for freedom, liberty, for America, for us, for YOU AND ME. We were asked to remember those who died in the great American Civil War, but the day to remember now incorporates all who have given lives in defense of our country. Far too many wars, my fellow Americans, and far too many fallen defenders by the millions who believed in America, and in its fundamental principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all mankind. How grateful we should be. We are descendants or contemporaries of patriots, men and women who cherish freedom and were willing to fight and die to defend it if necessary. These warriors lived by the words of Patrick Henry who said: GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH. Our nation was formed in the fight for freedom, for there was no life worthwhile without it. There came our great Constitution and our incredible BILL OF RIGHTS, the rights and freedom amendments which are the finest in the history of mankind. No matter the origin, it seems as though, in so many ways, the passion for freedom may have been lost today as they once had it. We seem to take for granted what they died for. The courage they had seems lost today in so many ways, and the change in our country produces in so many ways an America in decline, at least politically, philosophically, and certainly passionately. Our ancestors fought for the Constitution, for the Bill of Rights and the freedoms those now 27 Amendments allow us. They were ready to die for them, but we, the current people, allow them to be watered down, interpreted away and often ignored without the fight or conviction to protect and defend them. Perhaps the freedoms of Patrick Henry are giving way to a slow but sure death. Perhaps we have failed to meet the challenge of Ben Franklin who told us the Republic they created for us was a marvelous way of government IF we could keep it. I wonder if we can. So, in the midst of barbeques and baseball, it is so healthy to look back and remember. Remember a George Washington, a general, a leader, a President, a warrior, a patriot. Or a Paul Revere who rode the land warning the enemy was coming, sounding the alarm. It seems as though we need more Paul Reveres, warning us that enemies to our Constitution and way of life are coming, and in fact are HERE. We The People should be ever mindful of the threats and sound the alarm as he did, like those who energized our country once before, THE BOSTON TEA PARTY PATRIOTS and the revolution their courageous acts energized and inspired. They took a stand against taxes and so must we. Ours continue to rise, and rise to the point of confiscation, but nothing destroys freedom like taxes. President John Adams reminded us the two killers of liberty are slavery and debt. The debt of confiscatory taxation strangles freedom, and that is happening at an incredibly rapid pace today. Shame on us. It is hard for us to think back and remember the early days in America when slavery was a way of life in America, to our great shame and embarrassment. We, the moderns, find that inconceivable, and the practice of slavery of any kind abhorrent, do we not? Right-thinking men and women fought and fell to rid America of the scourge of slavery, God bless them. And to rid the world of despots like Hitler, evil to the core, Mussolini, and those who, in war, would destroy the freedom and liberty of all. God bless them. There can hardly be a family anywhere in America which has not laid a son or daughter on the altar of freedom. So many fought and fell, lives given willingly for us in war after war. There were those who supported those who fought. We honor them. Many of our warriors and defenders came home hurt and damaged in body or mind, perhaps for a lifetime. On Memorial Day, we honor these veterans of wars, these HEROES, these wounded warriors who gave us our freedom: WE OWE THEM! A debt we can never repay. To honor them is the least we can do, to thank them as we remember and as we encounter those in our military who follow after them. We should help and support them. They lived and died for what they believed. Whenever I encounter a member of our military, I thank them for what they did and what they do for our great country, for me, and for you, and for my friends and loved ones, and all Americans whether I know them or not. But, I really do know them, for I know what is in their hearts and minds and I know they love America as much as I do. I will salute them as a sign of respect. I wish them to know I will always be grateful for everything they do for me and the America I love. Perhaps YOU should do the same, not on one Memorial Day, but on all days. They, the heroes and defenders, are the very best of us. God bless them. Memorial Day is always celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery, a very special place, a burial site for some of America’s bravest. At 3:00 PM on that Monday, a very special ceremony occurs, and each grave is decorated with a small American flag. The highlight of the celebration is a speech in honor of these brave men and women from the President or Vice President of the United States honoring their contributions to America and laying a wreath at the tomb of The Unknown Soldier. That tomb represents tens of thousands of other unknown soldiers who gave their lives in service to our country, but in death never got the recognition and respect they so justly deserved. Do remember them, my fellow Americans, do remember them as well on Memorial Day, as there may be no one else, no loved one, no friend or family to do so. As you do remember these American heroes, thank our God, the God who blesses America for all those who gave so much for us. They allowed us to be parents, to have and enjoy family, they allowed us to be workers and fully participate in the great opportunities America offers. THEY allowed us to be all we can be, because our soldiers, they were determined to be all they could be. Have a special place in your heart all week for any loved one, family or friend of yours who should be MEMORIALIZED AND REMEMBERED this day and always. And, as we pay tribute and remember, let us become better citizens of this great country, ready more than ever to preserve, protect, and defend all it stands for, all of our blessed and precious freedoms which exist like there are nowhere else in the world. Let us stand for what is right with actions, protests, town meetings, marches, debate, fact and truth at work, counteracting government spin and disinformation. Let us stand tall for the right, for truth, for all things moral and valuable. Let us resolve, WE THE PEOPLE, we who own and control this country, to do our job as citizens far better, and remember to cherish and exercise the greatest privilege which every American has THE VOTE! There is no more powerful weapon than the vote of the American citizen. It is the most precious Constitutional right we have, and for which our forefathers fought and died. Let us make certain we vote for those to represent us, who so passionately believe in these very special freedoms as we do, and they, the fallen, did. It is only then, when we do our part, day in and day out, that we would have the right to say, with conviction and passion, as our forefathers did: GOD BLESS AMERICA! For that can not happen unless WE THE PEOPLE do what is right, remembering whom and what went before, and committing with conviction to follow in their footsteps. These men and women died for GOD AND COUNTRY and for you and me in the never-ending fight to protect and preserve: FREEDOM! Memorialize their memories on Memorial Day and every day! God bless America and God bless you.

The End

Mother

In our world, love rules. It is the highest attribute, with fundamental characteristics of all humankind. Perhaps the finest expression of love is: MOTHER LOVE. The definition of mother, a real mother is simply put: LOVE. A mother’s love is the ultimate human love. It is said that THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE RULES THE WORLD. Perhaps so because so much of a child is formed in the early years by mother. One is in life so much of what a mother was. A real mother is part of the life of a child forever. What we learn at mother’s knee is so often what we are. Her values become ours. We are HER. The egg of a woman is the source of all life, the fundamental stuff of the universe and when fertilized by the sperm of the male: LIFE. The most precious thing of all happens. The egg and the sperm unite and become one, but it is GOD who gives life. At that very moment of conception, the life of a HUMAN BEING begins. That life is not a mere collection of cells as one biologist so flippantly said, but in reality, the first moments of the life of a human being, a child on the grow in the womb. That fertilized egg is a BABY. So much for abortion, which is nothing more than murder of that baby at any stage in the womb. And so, the mother begins mothering, and the baby grows. The enriched womb of the mother nourishes and cherishes the baby, sensitive to every need. The morning sickness is a small price to pay for the life within. Moods and diets may change as the womb grows large and beautiful. It is really wondrous to behold the change of mother in the making with that womb at work. It is marvelous indeed to touch the nine month home of that child. The ear presses down, hoping to hear any sound from the baby. Touching, hearing, kissing, and sensing life at work are really more important than any ultrasound. God at work through Mother Nature creating life is wondrous, even miraculous. Some today are actually privileged to see the baby born. Out of the womb comes a bundle of joy, of life and yet another miracle happens. The pain of childbirth is so well worth the end result. Perhaps it is the most loving moment, the ultimate loving moment when brand new baby lays firm on mother’s breasts. Having seen that, how I wonder could any potential mother abort, kill her very own child? To do so is to abort a miracle. Early on, it is the still, small voice of the mother which is perhaps the greatest teacher in life. We the infants hear that voice and remember what the voice of our mother sounds like and says for a lifetime. We do so consciously and perhaps even more importantly subconsciously. That loving voice in many ways is angelic, the early words of love. They come with touch, and they are spiritual, psychological, character forming and building. The love of a mother is every bit as important as food itself. So, in a sense, these early words are eternal for they train up the child in the way the mother wishes the child to go and to grow is not to depart from the right ways of the mother. The words of a mother to her child are melodic, soothing, comforting. They support, encourage and they make a child feel safe. A mother touches, hugs, strokes, talks and sings to her baby, episodes never to be forgotten. When all else fails and all others as well, a truly loving mother never does. She is forever, eternal. A loving mother is kind. In a world rough and confrontational, the kindness of the mother is a most necessary characteristic. A loving mother is never jealous, never envious, always willing to put the child first, in love. A real loving mother is proud of her child no matter what the child becomes. Motherly love is always positive, not negative. It looks for the best, the good and the right. But the mother renders discipline when things are wrong. The love of a real mother is tough love. That love has standards, clear, straight and simply and lovingly communicated. Real love is without compromise. A loving mother never bargains with a child. A mother explains and answers perhaps better than any teacher, helping a child to understand. A mother stretches but never pushes knowing that her child must be challenged in order to grow. There is always demand and discipline from the right mother, both easy to implement when the child knows he or she is: LOVED A loving, Godly mother makes certain her child understands her standards and values and those of God as well. A loving Godly mother teaches the child the things of her Lord. Train up that child in the ways of faith, of Christian faith, the faith of the mother. There is no better witness for the child than a loving Christian mother, living life by those standards and the child along with her. That is faith with works, the best kind. A real loving mother gives time, quality time to the child. There is for mother and child that quality time to talk and much more importantly, and especially for mother, to: LISTEN. In an age of cell phones, babysitters, fast foods, carpools and demanding social life, all of that and everything else should never, ever interfere with quality time spent by the mother with child. Truly listening, and touching, and hugging, and encouraging, respecting the child produces some of life’s finest lessons. Those bonding moments are, as one psychologist has well said: PEAK MOMENTS. Never to be forgotten by either. Patient, kind and understanding. Truly interested in the life of a child, not superficially so. Perhaps that is why so many mothers wished more than ever, so we are told, to stay home, build that home for husband and child and all children and to spend full time training up that child in the way in which he should go. That is what mothers are for and no other job can ever come close to that incredible responsibility and opportunity. No matter the love, child rearing is work, and hard work. It demands the time of the mother at all times. The real needs of a young child are great and they demand full time, mother always on the ready. How beautiful it is for father and husband to watch the baby breastfeed. How beautiful to see mother and child so intimately and sensitively connected. There is special nourishment from the milk of the breast but there is also the psychological nourishment, the nourishment of love and bonding, one with each other, the young and often subconscious memories lasting for a lifetime. A mother’s touch, feel and taste are vitally important to the growth of the child. Some mothers homeschool. They want to train up that child in the right ways themselves. Others work to send the child to special schools, private schools or schools of faith. Loving mothers are more than willing to sacrifice to accomplish the right objectives for the child they love. And all the while, a mother encourages the love of a father for child and the child for the father. There is respect, as important as love, between mother and father, husband and wife. There is a sense of equality as both parents love their child in different ways. Perhaps the love of a father for a child is different but as the child grows and matures, the love, the real love of a real father becomes as important to the child as that of the mother. Without both loves, something fundamental is missing. So that, when a child is ready for the world, and independence, and a life for itself, both loving parents have formed the young adult and are ready proudly so to watch a brand new life unfold. They have earned, these loving parents have, the right to be proud parents. Small wonder that loving children love to give back. There comes a time when the priorities are reversed and the child becomes the support, the loving support of the parents. Loving children love to give back to loving parents. That love which began in the womb is eternal. It never fails. It outlasts faith, and hope and all the wisdom and riches of the world. It endures forever even as the love of Christ does. And so it is with the deepest admiration, respect and love that we, all of us at Crawford Broadcasting Company, salute all real loving mothers on Mother’s Day and all year long. If you are a loving mother: YOU ARE SPECIAL. There is one day set aside to honor loving mothers which in reality should be done every day of the year. We are admonished, commanded to: HONOR OUR FATHER AND MOTHER. It is a commandment that we honor real loving parents with our love and respect. Give back the love you owe to your mother. Give it back with tears, with laughter and with joy. With gratitude and thanksgiving for all that she has done for you. Let her know how much you love and appreciate her, knowing as you do that you can never repay the loving debt you owe. No child can ever give back all that he or she has gotten. Never. If she is here, make sure she gets what she deserves. There are so many mothers, like mine, not here. My mother is with her Lord as she has been for more than a quarter century. How much I would love the opportunity to give her one more hug. Do that for yours while you can. We salute you and thank you, mother. There is really nothing like you in this world: NOTHING!

The Day Which the Lord Has Made

We live in a world ever-increasingly negative. Problems everywhere, pain and suffering, sorrow and uncertainty. It is a world replete with wars. Inflation rages. There are plagues and sickness everywhere. There is mistrust between nations and individuals, and in some quarters, a tragic feeling of hopelessness, where nothing will get better or change. Crime is on the increase. Law and order declines. Drugs are destroying the lives of so many of our people, especially our young. Justice is often corrupted, the rule of law compromised and prejudiced. So, why bother? Throw up your hands, give up, live in fear and worry, and accept the new negative reality. WRONG! DEAD WRONG! You can not be a Christian and live life this way, believe this way, or worry this way. The Lord of Glory came to make life POSITIVE, and the Holy Spirit, when called upon, instills the sense of the positive in the newborn child of the Lord. If you are truly Christian, saved, born again, then your spirit is infused with the positive. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then accept Him at His Word: HE HAS COME SO YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL! Full of joy, my fellow Christians. Not negative, not worry, not hopelessness, but joy, unspeakable joy, as the Scriptures say. Why not experience this, ask for this, be involved in this very day which the Lord has made, why not? So, be happy. The words of the song ring so true: HAPPY AM I JESUS LOVES ME HE TOOK MY SINS AND HE MADE ME FREE If that is so, if that has happened to you, don’t worry, be happy. Experience the joy of the relationship with Him, NOW AND TODAY! Do not waste this day which the Lord has made for you, DO NOT! LAUGH TODAY! Never go a day without laughing, without experiencing the comical side of life. It is a tonic for the soul. It cleanses emotionally, and it emphasizes the positive. LAUGH OUT LOUD TODAY! HAVE FUN TODAY! Do something you really enjoy, which is fun for you, no matter who else agrees. You very much deserve it, fellow Christian. It is what your Lord would want. It is what Salvation is all about, not just forgiveness, as important as that is, but Salvation opens up all new avenues for living, for believing, for enjoyment, for fun. If you don’t engage in these positive, joyful things, you challenge the Lord, and, by your conduct, you deny Him and His promises, and the other half of Salvation is lacking in your life: HE HAS COME SO YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL! FULL! Perhaps this means the better portion, joy, of this very day. Can you live a happy, joyful, fun-filled life on this very day which the Lord has made, will you? Are you not tired of the negative in this world? Why would you waste the day the Lord has made for you, why? CELEBRATE YOUR FAITH TODAY! Millions, perhaps even billions, have no faith, believe nothing, live life in the negative. You, Christian, have the most precious thing any human being can have: FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR. Enjoy your faith, be happy about your faith, celebrate your faith today in every positive way you can, and enjoy the hope you have in JESUS CHRIST, the finest thing you can have in this life, and even more importantly, the life to come. BE GLAD AND REJOICE THIS VERY DAY! LOVE TODAY! What the world needs now is love, says the old song. YOU HAVE IT! The love of your Lord is yours as a Believer, and you should celebrate this love, luxuriate in it, talk about it, and thank God for it. There is no greater love than that of a man/woman who lays down his/her life for a friend, for another, and He did that FOR YOU! SO, ENJOY IT TODAY! Relive the salvation experience today, re-experience the love of Calvary, and be happy and joyful. Let nothing in this negative world take you away from the celebration of love today, NOTHING! PRAISE GOD TODAY! This God of everything and everyone made you, and all things, and He is not only worthy of our praise, it is our privilege to PRAISE HIM. Do that today and feel the positive surge through your arteries and veins. Experience the positive. Relish the first fruits of praise. It is so good to give praise to God from whom all blessings flow. WORSHIP TODAY! Worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit today. Think about the Holy God, with all due respect, adoration, wonder, and awe. Thid kind of worship is elevating, carries you to the Throne where angels live. Our God is worthy of our worship and adoration. Do it today. Perhaps most importantly, GIVE THANKS TODAY! Give thanks to God for EVERYTHING, and especially His unspeakable gift in Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. Give thanks to Him for the many blessings which you receive and enjoy every day, and so often merely take for granted. THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING! Never forget the admonition of the great Apostle Paul who told us as Believers: IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS! Your Lord wants you to live an abundant life today, TODAY! You are alive, you can enjoy, do, give thanks, and perform acts of kindness, mercy, and goodness. Do all these things and you will have the kind of day which the Lord God Almighty has ordained for you and promised you. He came, He told us, so we may have life more abundant. We have this life now, so now we need to live it TODAY! Forgetting those things which are behind, not worrying about things to come, for you do not know what is to come, but living to the fullest, enjoying life to the fullest TODAY. This is the command of the Lord, the privilege, the opportunity, life abundant and positive which is yours today. MAKE THIS SPECIAL DAY THE LORD HAS MADE FOR YOU THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE

The Anti-Christ in the Digital Age

There are any number of references to the Anti-Christ in Scripture, especially the New Testament, and most especially in the Book of Revelation. The End Times in Revelation are vividly portrayed, factually, colorfully, but most urgently. The coming of the Anti-Christ signals the end of the age, THE END. Now comes the theory and the warning that the Anti-Christ may not arrive as an obvious tyrant, but one who promises global safety from catastrophic risk and consolidates worldwide power as these promises are made. While promising the world that he will end wars, deal aggressively with plagues and disease, stomp out poverty, and more, he convinces the world he is acting for the good of human kind, when in fact, says Scripture, he is evil incarnate, the representative of Satan himself. The Anti-Christ, say these digital disciples, will not engage in typical mental warfare and persuasion, but will wage what is now called: COGNITIVE WARFARE. This new psychological battle will be waged through the existing systems and platforms that millions consult daily for news, guidance, emotional support, and moral reasoning. This so-called Digital Anti-Christ will use these existing platforms to manipulate perception, distort truth, and influence populations at scale, in our very own homes, and especially on the devices now used by our children. The weapons, among others, will be deepfakes, synthetic media, and algorithmic manipulation. The new battlefield of the Digital Anti-Christ will be the hearts and minds of human beings. We are told in Scripture by our Lord that in the last days, the End Times, evil deception would intensify, so much so, and so expertly done, that it would even lead astray the elect, the very strongest of Christians. That would happen partially because We The Christians do not “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” The Scriptures demand we who believe must exercise the most critical discernment as we mentally digest the new information provided by the Anti-Christ in the cognitive warfare. The question is whether or not We The Believers and our church of our Lord Jesus Christ are, in fact, exercising that discernment, aware, concerned, resisting, and staying in the Truth, now more than ever. With these new digital weapons, it is easier than ever to manipulate, distort, and change the Truth, especially the moral Trust of Christianity and Scripture. The younger generation can indeed be more seriously influenced. Scripture makes it clear that in addition to the role of the Real Church, moral instruction, right and wrong, Biblical Truth, is the responsibility of the parents of the children, and to train up the child in the way in which he/she should go, cultivating the discernment of right and wrong. Teach your children diligently, says the Scripture. You can not delegate that responsibility to a platform, an algorithm, to Artificial Intelligence. Diversity was the obvious intention of the Creator of our universe. It exists in so many ways, and especially between peoples. The differences in language, culture, color, and lifestyle were what God intended. But, the Anti-Christ would use these incredible digital means to make one world, one people, one belief system, like the intentions of the old Tower of Babel, and with that, exercise extreme power and control over all humankind. In Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel had a similar objective to produce a humanity united by common language and technological ambition, attempting to create a self-sufficiency which would have no need of or reference to God. The technology companies of today have very much the same goals and ambitions. America must compete, and, in fact, must have the objective of leading the research and development of AI. If that leadership is co-opted by China, or any other nation, the outcome can have incredibly serious existential results, disastrous to Christianity. China’s AI ecosystem is designed for social control at scale. We can never let that happen in America, or, for that matter, the world. AI is here to stay and will continue to develop, grow, and become more powerful, but it must be kept as a tool to be used by mankind and never to become dominant. So, there is a public reckoning, and there must be a public awakening. The alarm must be sounded by pastors, by parents, by policymakers, and by people of faith, real faith, and in the know, and fully recognize the new enemy in the new cognitive warfare in these End Times. Christians must understand the incredible power of AI and its potential and usage for good or evil, for the truth or for the lie. God has not given us a Spirit of fear, about AI or anything else in this world for that matter, but of Power, Love, and of a SOUND MIND. It is that God-given Sound Mind we must use now, more than ever, to discern the signs of the times. We must heed now, more than ever, the admonition of the Apostle Paul, who told us as Believers we should: SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE TAKES YOU CAPTIVE THROUGH PHILOSOPHY AND EMPTY DECEPTION. AI does not need to introduce a new theology. It simply needs to influence, distort, and re-interpret your beliefs, and especially your beliefs in Christianity and Jesus Christ. It wins, you lose, and evil triumphs gradually, but thoroughly, and eventually permanently. There is, for Believers, but One Truth, says Jesus of Nazareth: I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. AI would seek to corrupt that truth, that wisdom, the love of Jesus Christ. Don’t let it happen, my fellow Christians. Watch carefully what happens, understand the times, discern the times, judge and evaluate AI. Never let a machine replace the love of the man who died for you and me at Calvary.

SEL: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

32% of America’s 12th grade students do not read at even the most basic level. 45% of those young students do not do math at the most basic level. Only 22% of those students do. The public schools in America are in utter disarray, so says the nation’s report card. Right thinking American’s know that critical race theory is dead wrong, and that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is very wrong for America, as well. But SEL, now so very universally pervasive, can be extremely harmful, as well. SEL is a therapeutic approach to education. Teachers conduct a form of group therapy in the classroom. Public school children in the classroom gather in a circle, sit on mats, akin to a yoga experience, and the teacher leads the group in a radical empathy experiment, and leads the class in a circle in an emotional self-examination. The exercise is internal to the neglect of external subject matters. The SEL empathy generated is used by the teacher to indoctrinate students in various left-wing ideologies, from climate change extremism, to support the transgender ideology, to globalism, to the gay agenda, and more liberal and radical causes and ideologies. The concept developed as far back as the 1960s, invented by Dr. James Comer. The motivation for the origination of SEL in 1960 was legitimate, for it was designed to teach underprivileged minority students in New Haven, CT how to relegate their emotions, make decisions, and behave appropriately in schools. However well-intentioned, SEL quickly became mostly political and became an excellent tool for radical-thinking teachers, counselors, and school psychologists to indoctrinate children in liberal ideology. This focus on internal and emotional matters led to a certain de-emphasizing of external subjects, including and especially reading, math, writing, and basic educational subjects. Many experts agree that this therapeutic approach to life has taken over the lives of Gen-Z to the detriment of these young people. These same experts argue that this unceasing attention to emotions and the emotionally difficult parts of a student’s life create EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY. SEL seeks to dominate the thinking of the child and as such, sabotages the parent-child relationship by undermining the moral authority which a parent rightly has over values and religion in the home. It is another attempt by radical, some say anti-American, individuals to disrupt and even destroy the family, and treats children as agents of social change rather than as individuals to be educated. This radical activism seems to be made a part of everything, including math, history, language, and all other subjects, and the objective of education becomes the training-up of children to become social activists. SEL, these experts say, is a disaster, and left unchecked can severely weaken family bonds and authority or even destroy them. So that, SEL became a total indoctrination system and social ideology was the main and most important thing that children 12th grade and below in America’s disastrous public schools were learning. The bottom line was that schools and their education came in many instances to replace the family as the place and with the individuals where public school children learned values and principles and not at home and not from the parents. Public schools in America were notoriously populated by liberal/radical teachers determined to change the moral structure of this great country. Naturally, right thinking parents rose up, fought back, and did their best to do away with SEL and return public school education to basic, external subjects and learning opportunities. In some cases, they were successful. In others, not so. When SEL was identified, exposed, and dealt with, it was simply re-named, reborn, and came back to the classroom in a different form. The child indoctrination in K-12 went on with the same negative and disastrous consequences. Major textbook companies build SEL into everything they publish. So do software firms, and now even UNESCO endorses and promotes SEL, as well. But the teachers who promote SEL are not equipped to engage in this psychological, emotional exercise and training, and they should, as one expert said, be teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, history, language, and all other external and accepted subjects for learning. What is worse than this ideological indoctrination is the fact that SEL allows a child to think that it is acceptable to fail at a job. A teacher, says one expert, can say that reading and writing are important but by teaching the whole child and developing emotionality, it allows the child to decide that failing at reading, writing, and arithmetic can be acceptable for him/her. Obviously, that will be disastrous for society. Any child in public school K-12th grade is simply not prepared to analyze and evaluate his/her emotions and to make critical decisions which can last a lifetime. In reality, SEL perpetuates any kind of emotional disorder which a young student may have. There is little question that American public schools are failing. That is why private schools and homeschooling are all growing by leaps and bounds. Parents want control over the education of their children and wherever possible, they are willing to pay for it. There have been many nation-wide attempts to introduce reform and change to public school education, almost all failures. That is why parents by the millions are seeking other ways and means to educate their children, to make certain that education deals with the basics, including and especially reading, writing, and arithmetic, and making certain that the family remains dominate and in control of values, morals, and religious teachings, and that the child, their child, is: TRAINED UP IN THE WAY HE/SHE SHOULD GO, SO THAT WHEN THEY ARE AN ADULT, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE, AN INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF SOCIETY, AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO COMPETE, UNDERSTAND, AND LIVE A PRODUCTIVE, HAPPY, AND FULFILLED LIFE. SEL, social emotional learning, will do its best to win that battle and dominate public school education, but right-thinking parents are determined to maintain the authority and control of the family. That goal, my fellow Americans, achieved and perfected, is critical for the future of America.

SEL: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

32% of America’s 12th grade students do not read at even the most basic level. 45% of those young students do not do math at the most basic level. Only 22% of those students do. The public schools in America are in utter disarray, so says the nation’s report card. Right thinking American’s know that critical race theory is dead wrong, and that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is very wrong for America, as well. But SEL, now so very universally pervasive, can be extremely harmful, as well. SEL is a therapeutic approach to education. Teachers conduct a form of group therapy in the classroom. Public school children in the classroom gather in a circle, sit on mats, akin to a yoga experience, and the teacher leads the group in a radical empathy experiment, and leads the class in a circle in an emotional self-examination. The exercise is internal to the neglect of external subject matters. The SEL empathy generated is used by the teacher to indoctrinate students in various left-wing ideologies, from climate change extremism, to support the transgender ideology, to globalism, to the gay agenda, and more liberal and radical causes and ideologies. The concept developed as far back as the 1960s, invented by Dr. James Comer. The motivation for the origination of SEL in 1960 was legitimate, for it was designed to teach underprivileged minority students in New Haven, CT how to relegate their emotions, make decisions, and behave appropriately in schools. However well-intentioned, SEL quickly became mostly political and became an excellent tool for radical-thinking teachers, counselors, and school psychologists to indoctrinate children in liberal ideology. This focus on internal and emotional matters led to a certain de-emphasizing of external subjects, including and especially reading, math, writing, and basic educational subjects. Many experts agree that this therapeutic approach to life has taken over the lives of Gen-Z to the detriment of these young people. These same experts argue that this unceasing attention to emotions and the emotionally difficult parts of a student’s life create EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY. SEL seeks to dominate the thinking of the child and as such, sabotages the parent-child relationship by undermining the moral authority which a parent rightly has over values and religion in the home. It is another attempt by radical, some say anti-American, individuals to disrupt and even destroy the family, and treats children as agents of social change rather than as individuals to be educated. This radical activism seems to be made a part of everything, including math, history, language, and all other subjects, and the objective of education becomes the training-up of children to become social activists. SEL, these experts say, is a disaster, and left unchecked can severely weaken family bonds and authority or even destroy them. So that, SEL became a total indoctrination system and social ideology was the main and most important thing that children 12th grade and below in America’s disastrous public schools were learning. The bottom line was that schools and their education came in many instances to replace the family as the place and with the individuals where public school children learned values and principles and not at home and not from the parents. Public schools in America were notoriously populated by liberal/radical teachers determined to change the moral structure of this great country. Naturally, right thinking parents rose up, fought back, and did their best to do away with SEL and return public school education to basic, external subjects and learning opportunities. In some cases, they were successful. In others, not so. When SEL was identified, exposed, and dealt with, it was simply re-named, reborn, and came back to the classroom in a different form. The child indoctrination in K-12 went on with the same negative and disastrous consequences. Major textbook companies build SEL into everything they publish. So do software firms, and now even UNESCO endorses and promotes SEL, as well. But the teachers who promote SEL are not equipped to engage in this psychological, emotional exercise and training, and they should, as one expert said, be teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, history, language, and all other external and accepted subjects for learning. What is worse than this ideological indoctrination is the fact that SEL allows a child to think that it is acceptable to fail at a job. A teacher, says one expert, can say that reading and writing are important but by teaching the whole child and developing emotionality, it allows the child to decide that failing at reading, writing, and arithmetic can be acceptable for him/her. Obviously, that will be disastrous for society. Any child in public school K-12th grade is simply not prepared to analyze and evaluate his/her emotions and to make critical decisions which can last a lifetime. In reality, SEL perpetuates any kind of emotional disorder which a young student may have. There is little question that American public schools are failing. That is why private schools and homeschooling are all growing by leaps and bounds. Parents want control over the education of their children and wherever possible, they are willing to pay for it. There have been many nation-wide attempts to introduce reform and change to public school education, almost all failures. That is why parents by the millions are seeking other ways and means to educate their children, to make certain that education deals with the basics, including and especially reading, writing, and arithmetic, and making certain that the family remains dominate and in control of values, morals, and religious teachings, and that the child, their child, is: TRAINED UP IN THE WAY HE/SHE SHOULD GO, SO THAT WHEN THEY ARE AN ADULT, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE, AN INDEPENDENT MEMBER OF SOCIETY, AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO COMPETE, UNDERSTAND, AND LIVE A PRODUCTIVE, HAPPY, AND FULFILLED LIFE. SEL, social emotional learning, will do its best to win that battle and dominate public school education, but right-thinking parents are determined to maintain the authority and control of the family. That goal, my fellow Americans, achieved and perfected, is critical for the future of America.

Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia

THOU SHALT NOT KILL! Those were the words of the GREAT I AM, Jehovah, the words given by the Creator of the universe, of all things, to Moses. Not killing was a commandment, not a suggestion, one of the ten, but perhaps the most important one. Those Holy, Divine words, once again, were: YOU AND I SHALL NOT KILL! But now, in this woke, radically liberal, transgender society of ours, comes the so-called mercy killing, the ending of life in the form of: ASSISTED SUICIDE. Call it what you will, but in reality, it is indeed KILLING. Twelve states and the District of Columbia allow this so-called mercy killing, this euthanasia, this ASSISTED SUICIDE. More states are considering similar laws, as well. Such laws permit physician/assisted suicide, which euphemistically is referred to as: MAID: MEDICAL AID IN DYING. When certain conditions are met, and a person presumably rational and able to make decisions wants to die, and at least two physicians so agree, a prescription can be issued for a lethal, death-inducing poisonous substance which would then be injected into the body of the person wishing to die, and shortly thereafter, death occurs. That death, presumably, is sanctioned by the family, loved ones, spouse, or other of such a person, and the state sanctions, allows it, and in some cases even encourages it. Most of the states have what is called “the value of the six month left to live rule.” Physicians must certify that there is no cure for the illness and that within six months or less, the individual will die. For that individual, they say, there will be little but pain, suffering, loss of life, and complete bodily deterioration. There is supposedly a five day waiting period between the lethal prescription and the death of the individual by injection. In that period, that person can supposedly change his/her mind and the killing procedure will be aborted. The person would then agree that the inevitably progressive condition which can not be reversed by any known treatment will be the way in which death occurs, and not by the lethal prescription. Those individuals and organizations which endorse assisted suicide think of the cost of the care of the individual during that supposed death-happening six months, and, they say, society is better off financially and otherwise if the suicide occurs. That, to me, is totally unacceptable, even barbaric, and I for one could never authorize or participate in the assisted suicide, the death of a family member or loved one. Could you? Governor Kathy Hochul of the once-great-state of New York says of the assisted suicide bill she signed: “THIS BILL IS ABOUT FREEDOM, AUTONOMY, AND COMPASSION.” Freedom to die? The autonomy to make the decision to die? And all of that is compassion? Not for me. What about you? The reality is that assisted suicide treats human life as negotiable when pain or physical decline begin and take over a human life. The cry for help, which we hear so often in the elderly and disabled, is then redefined as a right to die. But medical science has never been better, developing cures, new medicines, new abilities to treat once untreatable illnesses, sometimes even overnight. There is now, in this day in age, always the possibility of treatment, the alleviation of pain, and even CURE. All such possibilities mitigate against MERCY KILLING. Many believe the elderly, disabled, those suffering from some form of dementia, those in pain, and those easily led and misled by family and physicians can not make any rational decisions, much less the decision to die. Such individuals should not be allowed, legally allowed, by the states and by our courts to make decisions to die! THOU SHALT NOT KILL! My own mother suffered a horrible death from a cancer which could not be treated 40 years ago. Her pain was agonizing. In spite of that, she fought to live every minute of every day, believing it was worthwhile for her to do so. The thought of mercy killing or assisted suicide for our mother was never even discussed as a possibility by our family. Have you had such an experience in your family? Would you have accepted the mercy killing of your loved one, would you? You matter. I matter. Every one of us matters to someone, a few or many. Even more importantly, YOU, all of us, matter to our GOD who created us. He told us this very day was the day He created for us, and we should be glad and rejoice therein, and not think about assisted suicide or killing ourself. That somehow, we in pain and perhaps terminally ill, had purpose for living that day. We were surrounded by friends and loved ones, by caregivers who in fact cared, and the Christ of Glory was our portion that day. That was more than enough to be glad and rejoice, even if such rejoicing could not be verbalized. THOU SHALT NOT KILL! There are now wonderful painkillers available. Cures for almost every kind of disease are at work or on the horizon. There is hope to cure or extend life. There are less reasons than ever to choose death over life. I, for one, believe that assisted suicide, euthanasia, so-called mercy killing, is anything but merciful, and in fact, morally and Biblically DEAD WRONG! And, what about you, my fellow American, and Christian, brother and sister, do you believe in mercy killing? Would you authorize and participate in the death of a terminally ill loved one, would you?