Tag: American Christianity

The War on Christianity: Duke University Denies “Young Life” Official Status as a Student Group on Campus

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

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Claiming to be wise, they became fools. – Romans 1:22

ChristianityToday.com reports that

Duke University’s student government has denied the Christian organization Young Life official status as a student group on campus, citing its policy on sexuality.

The decision by the Duke Student Government Senate on Wednesday comes amid ongoing clashes nationwide between religious student groups and colleges and universities that have added more robust nondiscrimination policies.

Young Life, like many evangelical groups, regards same-sex relations as sinful. Its policy forbids non-celibate LGBTQ staff and volunteers from holding positions in the organization.

The student newspaper the Duke Chronicle reported Thursday that the student government senate unanimously turned down official recognition for the Young Life chapter, because it appeared to violate a guideline that every Duke student group include a nondiscrimination statement in its constitution.

Young Life, which is based in Colorado Springs, is a 78-year-old organization with a mission to introduce adolescents to Christianity and help them grow in their faith. It has chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges in all 50 states and more than 90 countries around the world.

But the student government objected to a clause in Young Life’s sexuality policy. After the student government was told the organization would not change its sexuality policy, it rejected the group.

The Young Life policy states: “We do not in any way wish to exclude persons who engage in sexual misconduct or who practice a homosexual lifestyle from being recipients of ministry of God’s grace and mercy as expressed in Jesus Christ. We do, however, believe that such persons are not to serve as staff or volunteers in the mission and work of Young Life.”

Over the past two decades, many colleges and universities have attempted to exclude religious groups because of their positions on sexuality, among them InterVarsity and Business Leaders in Christ.

Greg Jao, senior assistant to the president at InterVarsity, said about 70 colleges and universities have attempted to exclude InterVarsity chapters over the years—in some cases because it bars non-celibate LGBTQ employees, in others because its faith statement more generally violates school nondiscrimination policies.

In most cases, the issues are resolved, but others have ended up in court. InterVarsity is now suing the University of Iowa and Wayne State University.

“Most of the time universities back down because it’s a violation of students’ First Amendment rights,” said Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a law firm that defends religious freedom cases.

Duke, however, may be in a different category as a private institution. Private universities don’t have the same obligations under the First Amendment’s free exercise clause that a government entity does.

Young Life did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.

Did you know that Duke University, whose original name was Trinity College, began as a Christian College with funding coming from the Methodist Episcopal Church?

According to a webpage titled “Duke: A Brief Narrative History”, found on https://library.duke.edu“, the university has been “guided since 1859 by the motto Eruditio et Religio, or “Knowledge and Religion”.

Ironic, huh.

It remains both amazing and stupefying to me the extent to which American Christianity is still being constantly attacked on all fronts:  militarily, culturally, in our educational system, and even within organized religion itself.

From illegal immigration to abortion to homosexual “rights”, Americans who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ on these issues have been under fire by Progressive “Christians” like the Liberals who run Duke University, who insist that they know more about what is in the Bible and what Christ says, or would say, about these topics, then those of us who actually read God’s Word.

Jesus was often found in the company of sinners…but not because He accepted their sins. He was with them because he loved them and loathed their sin. He was there to redeem them through His Loving Grace, so that they might repent and find salvation through Him.

When you enter into a Facebook “discussion” with these “new Pharisees”, and you counter their arguments on these topics with Scripture, Liberals are initially slow to respond.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, – 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV 

Most Liberals will start “Googling” these topics, looking for any Scriptures that will substantiate their position.

There’s been many a time they have come back at me with Old Testament Scripture. It is then that I explain to them about the sacrifice that Christ made for us sinners, freeing Christians from Jewish Law and taking the punishment for our sins, creating a New Covenant by covering Christians through the shedding of His blood.

At that point in the “discussion”, there is a long pause, as they are trying to figure out a comeback.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.- 1 Corinthians 2:14

This misconception, which I have been trying to explain, involves Liberals’ belief that American Christians will not fight back against them and the things they want to say and do in our society.

If there’s one thing during all of the years of anti-Christian bias, which we experienced during the Obama administration, and now, almost 3 years after Christian Americans helped elect American Businessman and Entrepreneur Donald J. Trump as the 45th President, that the Liberals should have learned, is the fact that Christian American Conservatives will fight back.

It is funny though…that when we begin fighting back, the Liberals have a tendency to label us as uncaring, mean, divisive, and intolerant

Which is extremely ironic because as shown through their words and actions, those who consider themselves to be the “Smartest Christians in the Room”, these Modern-Day Liberal Pharisees, are actually the meanest, most divisive, and least tolerant of us all.

The Good News is that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

More good news is the fact that Christianity continues to thrive in America, despite the best efforts of Modern American Liberals.

For, as the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated so eloquently,

God has been very good to us

America was built upon a Solid Rock.

To ignore our nation’s Faith-Based Founding and Heritage is to live in purposeful ignorance.

As President Ronald Reagan said,

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

And, as Hebrews 13:8 tells us,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Regardless of the Political Machinations and the worship of Modern American Liberals at the Altar of Political Correctness, God will have the final word, as to our country’s future.

He always does.

God Bless America.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

Dems Hire Far Left Anti-Trump Pastor as Religious Outreach Director in Attempt to Gain Christians’ Votes in 2020 Election

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

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While the nation was focused on the first two Democratic Debates, FoxNews.com reported that

In 2012, the last election Democrats won, a headline from their convention read: “Democrats boo God.” In 2016, they heckled a preacher during the opening prayer.

It’s a perception they’ve been trying to change since, especially on the 2020 campaign trail.

Political pundits said Democrats have a God problem and their latest move shows they are taking steps to solve it.

President Trump solidified the evangelical vote in 2016 but Democrats hope to make up for the sins of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which was criticized for its lack of outreach to faith groups in the last election. The Democratic National Committee recruited a far-left religious outreach director and is launching a round of listening sessions with faith leaders leading up to the 2020 election.

The DNC hired former Washington, D.C. anti-Trump pastor, Rev. Derrick Harkins, who held a similar position in 2012 and has been the senior vice president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, which recently celebrated “rejoicing in the queerness of God.”

“We take seriously the relationships that we have with faith communities around this country,” Harkins told Religion News Service, adding that faith “will be a priority going into 2020, but even more importantly, beyond 2020.”

Over the past few elections, Democrats have alienated themselves further from religious voters, partly in due to stances it takes on social issues like abortion and gay marriage, not to mention its focus on urban communities that tend to have lower church attendance than their rural counterparts. While Trump took 80 percent of the white evangelical vote, Democratic presidential hopefuls are gearing up for more faith outreach, especially in historically black churches and within minority communities.

But with 25 candidates running, the field offers a wide-range of faith perspectives. But the eventual nominee will be the one to shape where the party truly heads.

Recently Democratic presidential candidate Kristin Gillibrand said she doesn’t believe the GOP is a “faith-driven party” because their policies go against her idea of what Christianity is all about, and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg questioned Trump’s faith and called him out for hypocrisy.

“Within the Democratic Party there is a huge spectrum of deeply faithful people,” Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary, told Fox News Religion Correspondent Lauren Green. “For too long, when we look at religion in America, we have associated with just politics and the religious communities that have been associated with the Republican Party and conservative politics…and there is a strong progressive Christian voice that is being spoken and lifted up and demanding to be heard.”

Jones added progressives are “very open about the kind of Christianity they profess.”

“Most of the progressive Christians are also deeply involved in interfaith conversations. They understand and know a lot about Islam, about Judaism,” Jones said. “They’re constantly connecting their own faith claims as Christians to a critique of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.”

Alex McFarland, founder of Truth For a New Generation, told Green he believes the Democrats are a godless party with no objective morality.

“I think many are saying ‘Uh, oh, oops, we’ve alienated and just written off the majority of our voters over the life of this party, so they’re having to try and invoke God because their platform has eliminated God. It’s certainly not the god of the founders or the god of the Bible. It’s a god of the 21st century, pluralistic, relativistic of our own making,” Alex McFarland, founder of Truth For a New Generation said. “The Democratic Party is going to have to rediscover some moral convictions…”

Try actually reading the Bible, for starters.

Evidently, the Democrats’ seething hatred for our 45th President blinded them to the fact that the overwhelming majority of America’s population are indeed Christians who place the Almighty above ALL, including the Democrats’ philosophy of “Social Justice” through “Democratic Socialism”.

For what now seems like an eternity, those on the Left side (along with some of those who claim to be on the Right Side) of the Political Aisle, led by Former President Barack Hussein Obama,  have focused their attention on “radically changing” America.

They soon realized that they simply could not do it through popular culture and educational indoctrination, inundating America’s children with both overt and subliminal imaging designed to countermand the Traditional American Values that they were being raised with, in normal American Households, out here in “Flyover Country”, otherwise known as America’s Heartland…or “the Red States”.

Modern Liberals soon figured out that the way to program Americans into believing that “all paths lead to God” and that cradle-to-grave Nanny-State Government were the new American Standards for living our daily lives, was to turn Christian American Houses of Worship away from being instructors of the Word of God and a sanctuary in which to worship Our Creator, to, instead, being purveyors of the joys of Popular Culture. Wednesday Night Bible Studies were soon replaced by Yoga Classes and Encounter Groups. Religious Leaders were soon quoting philosophy, instead of the Bible in their Sunday Morning Sermons.

And, instead of taking a stand against those things of the world which were directly opposed to what is found in God’s Word, these “new, enlightened” churches started standing up for the “right” of a woman to have her baby prematurely yanked out of her womb with a set of tongs, standing up for the right of Adam to “marry” Steve, when the Bible states that marriage is between a man and a woman, and standing up for the equality of all faiths, when the Son of God firmly states, in John 14:6, that

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, when is all this Christianity in America going to “fade away” as has constantly predicted in the past  by “the Smartest People in the Room”?

As polls have shown…not any time soon.

America remains a nation whose population consists of 70-75%, who proclaim Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior and 92%, who believe in God.

However, if you read some of the comments posted on Conservative Websites and Facebook Political Pages, by self-appointed “pundits”, you would think that Christian Americans are the minority in this nation.

I can testify from personal experience, having caught flack for sticking to my Christian American Conservative Principles, since beginning my daily posts on my own blog in April of 2010.

My posts, concerning American Christianity, seem to “touch a nerve” in both Liberals and Atheists, alike. (But, in at least some cases, I repeat myself.)

Their reaction has hardly been unexpected.

Of course, one of the Hot Button Issues, which those Liberals and Atheists who responded, over the years, immediately denied, was that our Founding Fathers were Christians and that our country was founded on a Judeo-Christian Belief System.

Evidently, they had never read anything, except what their like-minded, non-believing soothsayers, allowed them to.  Or else, they would have read historical documents like President George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, written on November 1, 1777, and found at wallbuilders.com:

The committee appointed to prepare a recommendation to the several states, to set apart a day of public thanksgiving, brought in a report; which was taken into consideration, and agreed to as follows:

Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of; and it having pleased him in his abundant mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense and establishment of our unalienable rights and liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a measure to prosper the means used for the support of our troops and to crown our arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the 18th day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise; that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that together with their sincere acknowledgments and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessings on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings, independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

And it is further recommended, that servile labor, and such recreation as, though at other times innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion.

Of course, the Poster Boy for the claim by Liberal/Atheist responders, concerning the Founders’ lack of  Christianity, is Thomas Jefferson.

Atheists like to bring up the fact that he wrote a version of the Bible which left out Christ’s miracles.  What they are reluctant to do, though, is explain why he wrote his book that way.  David Barton explains on wallbuilders.com:

The reader [of a newspaper article which Barton is replying to], as do many others, claimed that Jefferson omitted all miraculous events of Jesus from his “Bible.” Rarely do those who make this claim let Jefferson speak for himself. Jefferson’s own words explain that his intent for that book was not for it to be a “Bible,” but rather for it to be a primer for the Indians on the teachings of Christ (which is why Jefferson titled that work, “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”). What Jefferson did was to take the “red letter” portions of the New Testament and publish these teachings in order to introduce the Indians to Christian morality. And as President of the United States, Jefferson signed a treaty with the Kaskaskia tribe wherein he provided—at the government’s expense—Christian missionaries to the Indians. In fact, Jefferson himself declared, “I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” While many might question this claim, the fact remains that Jefferson called himself a Christian, not a deist.

Atheist Activists and young and/or misinformed Liberals and self-proclaimed “Libertarians” (but, in a lot of cases, I repeat myself), who reply to my posts, insist that Crosses and other Christian symbols have no place in the Public Square.

Relying on Far Left Ideologues or their own opinion as their “highest authority”, they continue their push to eliminate the practice of American Christianity and the Traditional American Morality and Ethics which go with it from Everyday American Life, attempting to regulate Christians’ role in American Society as remaining unseen and unheard from, worshiping in private, on Sunday mornings, only.

Or, as Actor and Professional Wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would say, Obama and his minions want American Christians to

Sit down, shut up, and know your role!

Unfortunately for them, our Current President Donald J. Trump reinforced our rights as American s to our  Faith with an Executive Order early in his Presidency.

The First Amendment to the Constitution still holds.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Being filled with human beings, America’s churches have made a lot of mistakes, However, they have also done a lot of good in the Name of the Lord.

For example, the church I attend, continues to support a Food Pantry, operated in co-operation with other churches in our area, which feeds 2,000 people per month, counseling them, and getting them the assistance that they need.

Churches today have to walk a fine line.

The spiritual battle raging between the influence of American Popular Culture and those seeking the Will of God in their lives, takes all the strength…and prayer, that Christians can muster.

Modern Liberals seem to have great difficulty comprehending the role which Our Creator, the God of Abraham, played and plays in this Grand Experiment, known as the United States of America.

Why have Liberals ratcheted up their anti-Christian Vitriol and Negativity since January 21, 2009?

Why are they so focused on removing America’s Christian Heritage and/or “radically changing” it to the worship of Popular Culture?

Well, as is usually my wont, I have been doing some “reckoning” about this.

It seems to this ol’ Southern Boy, living here in the Heartland, that America’s Christian Heritage and the very real fact of His influence in building and shaping America’s growth into the greatest country on the face of God’s Green Earth, not only stifles and interferes with Modern Liberals’ “anything goes”, “share the wealth”, “hive-mind”, “man is his own god” Political Ideology, but the reality of God’s very existence, somewhere deep in their miserable, bitter psyches, scares the mess out of them.

Why else would they be trying so hard to fight against the influence of Someone Whom they really don’t believe in?

And, a second and final thought occurred to me while watching the Far Left Democrats refuse to acknowledge God back in 2012 and now attempt to “mold God into THEIR image in order to win the 2020 Presidential Election…

The Far Left Democratic Party’s mantra of relative morality and situational ethics, approved by a secular “god” which they have created, is why the Democrats lost on November 8, 2016 and while they will continue to lose in the future.

For…

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. – Psalms 14:1

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

The United Methodist Church Vote and the “Religion of Social Justice”

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

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ChristianPost.com reports that

Progressives maintain a “religion of social justice” that leads them to attack Christians who live their faith openly, according to a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Allie Beth Stuckey, host of the Christian podcast “Relatable” who oversees “The Conservative Millennial” blog, was part of a panel Thursday that focused on the value of religious liberty and its contribution to overall freedom.

“There are people who say that secularism or the denial of religion, even the repressing of religion, will lead to more freedom, it will lead to more tolerance, it will lead to more inclusion,” said Stuckey.

“Obviously, that’s an ironic statement in and of itself. But there’s actually another religion that is taking over, that is dominating, that’s not a lack of religion, it’s a new religion of postmodernism, of moral relativism.”

Stuckey went on to argue that Americans who believe that religion should be practiced at home or in private do not lack religion, but rather have “donned the religion of social justice.”

Allie Beth Stuckey, host of the Christian podcast “Relatable” who oversees “The Conservative Millennial” blog, speaking as part of a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, February 28, 2019. | YouTube/NBC News
“They’ve actually donned the religion of progressivism where intersectionality is one of their key doctrines and identity politics is part of their worship,” she continued.

“So what we’re seeing is not this advancement of atheism or this advancement of agnosticism or secularism. It’s the religion of progressivism and social justice and moral relativism that says ‘this is the religion that needs to dominate in order for us to be tolerant.’”

“And what we see throughout history, and what we’re already seeing now is that progressivism is not a tolerant religion.”

Case in point…courtesy of WashingtonPost.com…

In a contentious meeting years in the making, the United States’s third-largest faith community voted to emphasize its opposition to same-sex marriage and gay clergy — a decision that was cheered by conservatives in the global church, especially in Africa, but was deeply disappointing to many Americans who were eager for change.

Many American ministers in the United Methodist Church already perform same-sex marriages and approve of the ordination of LGBT people as clergy, although the Protestant church’s rules officially forbid these marriages and ordinations. (A celibate gay person may be ordained in the UMC.)

Many Methodists hoped that the church would amend those rules this week. Instead, a group of more than 800 clergy and lay leaders from around the world voted to affirm the church’s traditional view of sexuality — and to punish disobedient clergy more harshly than before.

“The United Methodist Church will very soon lose an entire generation of leadership in the United States,” lamented Kimberly Ingram, speaking at the meeting on behalf of Methodist seminaries and theological schools, which had argued that their students strongly approve of including LGBT people fully in the church. “The future of the United Methodist Church in this country is at stake.”

But presented with several options during a four-day special session in St. Louis on the future of the church, the delegates picked the “traditional plan,” with 53 percent voting in favor. Other options would have allowed local churches to choose their stance on sexuality, or would have split the church into separate denominations.

Before I begin, please allow me to be honest with you.

I left the United Methodist Church at the age of 39, when I realized that, thanks to those in control of the denomination, whose headquarters was in the Northeast, some parts of the UMC were beginning to value secularism more than it did the Word of God.

How did I come to that conclusion?

I walked into a Sunday School class and a theology student was teaching out of a book titled, “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalists”.

While I hated to leave the Choir Director whom I had sang under for 20 years, like Belshazzar, I saw the writing upon the wall.

That was a little over 20 years ago.

Now, after a long journey down a road filled with Liberals’ “religion of social justice”, the United Methodist Church stands on a precipice, looking down into a fiery abyss.

The choice which the UMC faced this past week, and which other denominations, both Catholic and Protestant must face as well, is whether to believe and to preach the fundamental Word of God or to place their faith and doctrine upon the shifting sands of popular culture.

Right now, I can hear the Liberals who read my posts in order to raise their blood pressure beyond their usual catharsis, saying,

Well, what’s wrong with embracing the lifestyle of the LGBT “community” and allowing them to have leadership roles and to get married within the church?

Christ loved and embraced everyone.

Indeed He did.

Jesus was often found in the company of sinners…but not because He accepted their sins. He was with them because he loved them and loathed their sin. He was there to redeem them through His Loving Grace, so that they might repent and find salvation through Him.

When secular idolatry and popular culture is worshiped and celebrated, instead of Jesus Christ’s victory on the cross through His Blood as the expiation for the sins of the whole world, those who believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God have a decision to make: either stay and worship man’s word or attend a Bible-believing Church.

While Evangelicals, such as myself, welcome all sinners, including gays, into our churches.

We do so because we view the church as a “Hospital for Sinners”, which we all are.

The Good News is that we are all sinners saved by His Grace and, as Christians, we are not perfect…just FORGIVEN.

Liberals, through their “religion of social justice”, view the church as the latest “Shrine in which to Worship Political Correctness”.

The problem with their belief is that God always has the last word.

Remember Sodom and Gomorrah?

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

First, the NY Abortion Law, Now House Dems Getting Rid of “So Help You God”…Are Dems Going Full Marxist?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

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https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1090363033963163648

FoxNews.com reports that

A key committee in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is moving to eliminate the God reference from the oath administered to witnesses testifying before the panel, as part of a new rules package expected to be approved this week, according to a draft obtained exclusively by Fox News.

The draft shows that the House Committee on Natural Resources would ask witnesses to recite only, “Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

The rules proposal places the words “so help you God” in red brackets, indicating they are slated to be cut. The words “under penalty of law” are in red text, indicating that Democrats propose to add that phrasing to the oath.

The draft rules also remove the phrase “his or her” throughout the document, changing those two pronouns to “their.” The rules additionally modify all references to the committee’s “Chairman” to instead refer only to the committee’s “Chair.”

Other rules changes relate to expanding the committee’s authority over natural gas in Alaska and fossil-fuel resources.

While many federal oaths include the phrase “so help me God,” some — most notably the presidential oath of office — do not.

The full committee is set to vote on the new language this week, and the rules would take effect immediately if adopted. Other committees were still in the process of finalizing their rules on Monday.

Republican leaders reacted with dismay to the proposed change, and suggested it was a sign of the Democratic Party’s leftward shift.

“It is incredible, but not surprising, that the Democrats would try to remove God from committee proceedings in one of their first acts in the majority,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., told Fox News. “They really have become the party of Karl Marx.”

Spokespeople for the Natural Resources Committee did not immediately reply to Fox News’ requests for comment. The committee, which has oversight of national parks, wildlife and energy, is chaired by Democratic Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva.

The proposed change was not the first time Democrats have sought to strike references to God in official party documents. In 2012, the floor of the Democratic National Convention erupted over a sudden move to restore to the platform a reference to God and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — after heavy criticism from Republicans for initially omitting them. Democrats, though, were hardly in agreement over the reversal.

A large and loud group of delegates shouted “no” as the convention chairman (then-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) called for the vote. Villaraigosa had to call for the vote three times before ruling that the “ayes” had it. Many in the crowd booed after he determined the language would be restored.

The battle marked the biggest platform fight in either party’s convention, and signaled Democrats were worried the prior language could have been politically damaging in a tight election year.

A senior campaign official told Fox News at the time that then-President Barack Obama personally intervened to change the language in both cases. On the God reference, the official said the president’s response was, “Why did it change in the first place?”

The House panel’s proposed change comes as far-left progressive Democratic freshman in Congress, including Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Ilhan Omar, have come under fire from Republicans for pushing what they call radical and unfounded religious-based attacks.

Omar, for example, wrote in 2012 that “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Tlaib was accused of engaging in an anti-Semitic slur earlier this month by suggesting Republican politicians were truly loyal to Israel, not the United States.

Omar and Tlaib made history by becoming the first-ever Muslim women in Congress.

Within the past week, the “New” Democratic Party have shown Americans who they truly are and what they stand for.

And, it certainly is not good.

First, New York State’s Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo signed into law a bill which allows babies to be murdered in the mother’s womb on up to their day of birth..

Now, the Democrats in the House of Representatives wish to reject the authority of God over their actions.

Never mind that 75% of Americans proclaim Jesus Christ as our Risen Savior.

This country has been pulling apart at the seams since the night of November 8, 2016, which Donald J. Trump was elected as our 45th President.

And the thing is, it is not his fault.

The direction which the Modern Democratic Party has taken to the Far Left of the Political Spectrum has put them at odds with the majority of Americans who still hold dear the Traditional Faith and Values System upon which our Sovereign Nation was founded.

Looking back on all of the protests and violence since Donald J. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton for the presidency on the night of November 8, 2016, including the out-of-control attacks on Associate Justice Kavanaugh during his Confirmation Hearings and on Republican Politicians and average Americans by Antifa and the rest of the New Bolsheviks, it is very apparent that there is something that is literally tearing apart the fabric of our country.

The only conclusion that I, as a Christian American can reach, is the fact that our Sovereign Nation is in the midst of SPIRITUAL WARFARE for its very soul.

Make no mistake about it, boys and girls, EVIL EXISTS.

My friends, I believe that we are fighting a war against “princes and principalities”. Evil is still alive and well and flourishing in a world in which relative morality and situational ethics are increasingly being accepted as normal behavior.

We see it everyday around us.

It inundates the cable news channels, 24 hours a day. Heck, you can even see it on Facebook.

Since Cain slew Able with a rock, mankind, because we are all fallen creatures, has had to deal with the presence of evil in our lives.

From the legendary massacres, perpetrated by Vlad the Impaler, to the horrific scenes of Hitler’s Concentration Camps, to the killing fields of Pol Pot, to the massacre of innocent Middle Eastern Christians by Islamic State, to the murders by Chicago Street Gangs every night, the Forces of Evil continue to flourish across the globe.

Who we as a nation are struggling with are those forces who want to turn our country into not just an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless All-Powerful Central Government, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so would it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if allowed to do so, will it lead to America’s.

The galling thing is the fact that, even though, as I mentioned earlier, American Christians remain 75% of the population, we are propagandized and suppressed by the Liberals in both the Old and New Media, to make it seem as if WE are the Minority, when, in fact, WE are the overwhelming Majority.

It is this New Generation of Amoral Socialists, who are in fact, just a tiny, albeit vocal, Minority of America’s population.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armor of God”. I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.…- Ephesians 6:10-12

Our Christianity as Americans does not and can not end at Noon on Sunday, as we shake the Preacher’s hand and walk out of the sanctuary.

As every Christian knows, the Triune God dwells within each of us, in the form of that “still, small voice”, the Holy Spirit.

And, we must allow that “still, small voice” to accompany us to the voting booth on November 6th.

Christians have to make a choice in these tough times.

The choice we each have to make is whether to “give to Caesar” that which is not his, our Christian Faith, or to listen to that “still, small voice” and decide which candidates will best serve and protect our Sovereign Nation and its citizenry from our enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC.

This is not just a “Political Choice” which we as Christian Americans are facing right now.

As I wrote earlier, America is in the midst of a battle of “Princes and Principalities”.

By now. you’re probably asking, “So what’s the point of all this, KJ?”

We are given free will by our Creator…will to make choices and decisions on the direction of our lives. Being human, we often don’t make the right decisions and being human, those decisions have the potential to lead us down a dark path.

Whether it is in reality or strictly in the close quarters of our own consciousness, the path we choose to follow is up to us. However, our parents, family, and friends can make a difference in our journey and I thank God that through His Grace I was given a Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and we still have a responsibility to one another and to those who have gone before us, risking their very lives to secure our freedom.

The Light or the Darkness. The choice is up to each and every one of us.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:14 (ESV)

And, I stand with the King of Kings.

You see, gentle readers, I’ve read the back of The Book.

The Good Guys win.

Do you want us to be “One Nation under God” or “The Tower of Babel”?

As you go about your day today, remember, that we have an Advocate, in Jesus Christ the Righteous, and, He is in our corner.

So, take that “little light” of yours, and let it shine.

AND FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT.

Until He Comes,

KJ

DNC Chairman Perez Upset That Christian Americans are Influenced by Their Faith in Their Political Preferences…Of Course He is

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

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If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. – President Ronald Reagan

NationalReview.com reports that

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez lamented Wednesday the supposedly malign influence of Christianity on voters’ political preferences, comparing the influence of preachers to that of conservative media outlets.

 “We all have to make sure that we are fluent in what’s happening across our ecosystem so that we can come to each other’s defense,” Perez said while speaking at Demand Justice’s “The Court In Crisis: What’s Next For Progressives After Kavanaugh” Summit in Washington, DC. “Because we need to build a bigger orchestra. They’ve had a big orchestra for some time and they’ve got the megaphones to amplify it, whether it’s Sinclair at a local level or Fox at a national level. I’ve learned this from the outreach we’ve done at the DNC. . . .And I had someone in Northwestern Wisconsin tell me, ‘You know what, for most of the people I know, their principal sources of information are Fox News, their NRA newsletter, and the pulpit on Sunday.’”

Perez went on to suggest that the political preference of single issue, pro-life voters can be entirely explained by their exposure to conservative ideas at their place of worship.

“It should come as a surprise to no one that that person has elevated the issue of courts to the top because that person on the pulpit is saying, ‘Ignore everything else that this person has done and is doing, we have to focus on one issue of Roe vs. Wade.’ And people buy it. Because that’s their only source,” Perez said.

It really should come as no surprise that the Political Activist Chairman of the Modern Democratic Party has no qualms in insulting the faith of 75% of Americans.

Remember what happened at the 2012 Democratic National Convention?

Businessinsider.com reported the story as it happened…

Democrats added mentions of the word “God” and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital today in a testy vote that left angry delegates booing on the floor.

It took three votes to pass the resolution in what was an extremely tense and divided vote. The first two votes failed, but DNC chairman Antonio Villaraigosa declared that the resolution had passed by a two-thirds majority on the third vote.

[The teleprompter showed the results before the measure was declared “passed”!]

“I heard a lot from the other side,” said Kenneth McClintock, a superdelegate and Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. McClintock said Puerto Rico supported the resolution.

“I was surprised” that the vote was so testy, he added.

Republicans had blasted the Democrats’ original platform, which had taken out mentions of “God” and did not affirm Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

And many delegates thought that the platform change was a direct response to some of the backlash, prompting some to worry that it will be more fodder for Republicans in the final months of the campaign.

“Conservatives are always going to criticize Democrats for not supporting Israel or not being religious enough, or whatever it is that day,” said Brandon Cooper, a delegate from Texas.

The Moral Compass of the Modern Democratic Party’s Far Left Liberal Leadership and their sycophantic minions, in both the Main Stream Media and the “New Media” (i.e., the Internet) and their “foot soldiers”, has been pointing in the wrong direction for quite a while, now.

If it were up to the “Democratic Socialists of the Modern Democratic Party, the very fabric of our society would be irreparably torn asunder, through the dissipation of morality and the glorification of evil.

The direction that the Dem want to take our Sovereign Nation in is that of  being not simply an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless Central Government fashioned out of the theories of Karl Marx, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so will it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if unchecked, will it also lead to America’s.

The galling thing is the fact that, even though American Christians remain 75% of the population, we are propagandized and suppressed in both the Old and New Media, to make it seem as if WE are the Minority, when, in fact, WE are the overwhelming Majority.

It is this New Generation of Amoral “Democratic”Socialists, like Tom Perez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are in fact, just a tiny, albeit vocal, Minority of America’s population.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armor of God”.

I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.…- Ephesians 6:10-12

By now. you’re probably asking, “So what’s the point of all this, KJ?”

We are given free will by our Creator…will to make choices and decisions on the direction of our lives. Being human, we often don’t make the right decisions and being human, those decisions have the potential to lead us down a dark path.

Whether is in reality or strictly in the close quarters of our own consciousness, the path we choose to follow is up to us.

However, our parents, family, and friends can make a difference in our journey. I thank God that through His Grace, I was given a Mother and Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

And yes, I thank God that Americans chose Donald J. Trump to be our President doing these challenging times.

We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and we still have a responsibility to one another.

The Light or the Darkness. The choice is up to each and every one of us.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:14 (ESV)

Until He Comes,

KJ

Socialism in America Vs. the Real “Reason for the Season”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

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I began writing my daily articles in April of 2010.

Over eight and one-half years later, the struggle to prevent Liberals from rewriting our nation’s history continues…as does the fight to keep the greed and avarice of those promoting the installment of Marxist Theory in our political, medical, and religious institutions from consuming our nation in a fire of self-destruction, as it has other nations before us.

As we Americans begin to get our Christmas Decorations out of their boxes and tubs and start buying presents for family and friends, I can’t help to think about the “Reason for the Season” and the “State of the Union” as it relates to Jesus Christ.

Friends have asked me if I believe that Christ would be in favor of the “Social Justice” movement that has infiltrated some churches in America, replacing Christian Doctrine with a Modern Liberal Political Agenda.

In order for you to understand how I and the overwhelming majority of Americans living here in the Heartland feel about that question, I believe you first need a working knowledge as to whom Jesus was.

As some of you know, I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. The following piece was written in 1912 by the editor of the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee, C.P.J. Mooney. Since then, it has remained so popular, that the newspaper has published it on their Op Ed page every year at Christmas.

JESUS, THE PERFECT MAN

There is no other character in history like that of Jesus.

As a preacher, as a doer of things, and as a philosopher, no man ever had the sweep and the vision of Jesus.

A human analysis of the human actions of Jesus brings to view a rule of life that is amazing in its perfect detail.

The system of ethics Jesus taught during His Earthly sojourn 2,000 years ago was true then, has been true in every century since and will be true forever.

Plato was a great thinker and learned in his age, but his teachings did not stand the test of time. In big things and in little things time and human experience have shown that he erred.

Marcus Aurelius touched the reflective mind of the world, but he was as cold and austere as brown marble. …

Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ is a thing of rare beauty and sympathy, but it is, as its name indicates, only an imitation.

Sir Thomas More’s Utopia is yet a dream that cannot be realized.

Lord Bacon writing on chemistry and medicine under the glasses of the man working in a 20th century laboratory is puerile.

The world’s most learned doctors until 150 years ago gave dragon’s blood and ground tails of lizards and shells of eggs for certain ailments. The great surgeons a hundred years ago bled a man if he were wounded.

Napoleon had the world at his feet for four years, and when he died the world was going on its way as if he had never lived.

JESUS TAUGHT little as to property because He knew there were things of more importance than property. He measured property and life, the body and soul, at their exact relative value. He taught much more as to character, because character is of more importance than dollars.

Other men taught us to develop systems of government. Jesus taught so as to perfect the minds of men. Jesus looked to the soul, while other men dwelled on material things.

After the experience of 2,000 years no man can find a flaw in the governmental system outlined by Jesus.

Czar and kaiser, president and socialist, give to its complete merit their admiration.

No man today, no matter whether he follows the doctrine of Mill, Marx or George as to property, can find a false principle in Jesus’s theory of property.

In the duty of a man to his fellow, no sociologist has ever approximated the perfection of the doctrine laid down by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount.

Not all the investigations of chemists, not all the discoveries of explorers, not all the experiences of rulers, not all the historical facts that go to make up the sum of human knowledge on this day in 1912 are in contradiction to one word uttered or one principle laid down by Jesus.

The human experiences of 2,000 years show that Jesus never made a mistake. Jesus never uttered a doctrine that was true at that time and then became obsolete.

Jesus spoke the truth, and the truth is eternal.

History has no record of any other man leading a perfect life or doing everything in logical order. Jesus is the only person whose every action and whose every utterance strike a true note in the heart and mind of every man born of woman. He never said a foolish thing, never did a foolish act and never dissembled.

No poet, no dreamer, no philosopher loved humanity with all the love that Jesus bore toward all men.

WHO, THEN, was Jesus?

He could not have been merely a man, for there never was a man who had two consecutive thoughts absolute in truthful perfection.

Jesus must have been what Christendom proclaims Him to be — a divine being — or He could not have been what He was. No mind but an infinite mind could have left behind those things which Jesus gave the world as a heritage.

No, I do not believe that Jesus would be a part of the social justice movement. His was and is a soul-saving movement. One that still brings hundreds of thousand of people to individual salvation on this terrestrial ball every day. A movement that, in fact, was embraced by the founders of this cherished land.

In a opinion piece for ChristianPost.com, Christian Talk Show Host Julie Roys gave the following Five Reasons that Socialism itself is not based on  the teachings of Jesus Christ.

1. Socialism is Based on a Materialistic Worldview

According to socialists like Bernie Sanders, the greatest problem in the world is the unequal distribution of wealth.

His website declares: “The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time.”

This betrays a fundamentally materialistic worldview, which is the basis of socialism.

To socialists, all that really exists is the material world.

2. Socialism Punishes Virtue

Socialists want to distribute wealth to individuals according to their need, regardless of virtue.

As Karl Marx, famously said, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

However, whenever any institution provides aid, it runs the risk of removing God-designed rewards and consequences. It can punish those who are industrious by making them pay for those who are not. And, it can reward those who aren’t industrious by giving them the fruits of another man’s labor. This is precisely what socialism does.

Interestingly, Marx mooched off others his whole life, and failed to provide for his wife and children.

As Aristotle once noted, “Men start revolutionary changes for reasons connected with their private lives.”

The Bible teaches that aid should be tied to responsibility. First, anyone who refuses to work should be refused aid.

3. Socialism Endorses Stealing

Barack Obama once defended his socialist policies to a little girl by saying, “We’ve got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who have less money. If you had a whole pizza, and your friend had no pizza, would you give him a slice?”

That sounds pretty Christian, right? What Christian wouldn’t endorse sharing your abundance with someone who has nothing? However, Obama wasn’t endorsing people voluntarily sharing their wealth with others; he was endorsing the government forcibly taking a piece of the pie from one person and giving it to someone else. Put another way, that’s saying that if you have three cars and your neighbor has none, the government has a right to take your car and give it to your neighbor. That’s not Christian; that’s stealing!

But, socialists don’t believe in private property. And, some Christian socialists actually assert that the Bible doesn’t either. That’s preposterous.

Both the Old Testament and New Testament unequivocally affirm private property. We can’t even obey the eighth commandment to not steal, unless we accept the notion of private ownership. Nor, can we steward our money as the Bible commands if the state owns our money, not us.

4. Socialism Encourages Envy and Class Warfare

Socialists demonize the rich, blaming all of society’s problems on them.

Bernie Sanders once posted to his Facebook Page: “Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.”

Here, Sanders is mimicking Karl Marx, who viewed history as a series of class struggles between the rich and the poor — and advocated overthrowing the ruling class.

Scripture strongly warns the rich and powerful not to oppress the poor.

In fact, Proverbs 14:31 says, “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for his maker . . .”

But, Sanders — and other Leftists, including Hillary Clinton — go far beyond decrying specific acts of injustice. They basically condemn an entire class of people simply for possessing wealth. And, they encourage those who are poor to overthrow them. In fact, Clinton once said the U.S. economy required a “toppling” of the wealthiest 1%.

The rich are not causing all the problems in American society. People like Bill Gates are not acquiring wealth by stealing from the masses. They’re creating great products, which produce wealth, and actually provide jobs for many people. But, even if they were exploiting the poor, nowhere does Scripture support the have-nots demanding money from the haves. Instead, it teaches that we should not covet (Exodus 20:17) and should be content in all circumstances (Phil. 4:11-13). 

5. Socialism Seeks to Destroy Marriage & Family

A little known fact about socialism is that, from its beginning, it has sought to destroy marriage and family. Grove City Professor Paul Kengor explains this in detail in his book, Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Marriage and Family. Essentially, what socialism seeks is for the state to replace the family. That way, it can indoctrinate children in its Leftist way of thinking, and remove from them any notions of God and religion.

Friedrich Engels, co-author with Marx of the “The Communist Manifesto,” once wrote that the society he envisioned would be one where “the single family ceases to be the economic unit of society. Private housekeeping is transformed into a social industry. The care and education of the children becomes a public affair.”

Similarly today, Bernie Sanders calls for a “revolution” in childcare and for the government to provide early childhood education beginning with children as young as six-weeks-old. And, he’s a proud supporter of gay marriage — what Kengor calls “communism’s Trojan Horse” to secure the final takedown of traditional marriage.

To socialists, what Bernie describes is a utopia. But, to Christians, it’s a dystopia. That’s because there’s nothing Christian about socialism — and there’s absolutely no way Jesus would ever support it.

America was not founded to be a Socialist Nation.

The following is courtesy of adherents.com:

There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. There were 48 signers of the Articles of Confederation. All 55 delegates who participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 are regarded as Founding Fathers, in fact, they are often regarded as the Founding Fathers because it is this group that actually debated, drafted and signed the U.S. Constitution, which is the basis for the country’s political and legal system. Only 39 delegates actually signed the document, however, meaning there were 16 non-signing delegates – individuals who were Constitutional Convention delegates but were not signers of the Constitution.

There were 95 Senators and Representatives in the First Federal Congress. If one combines the total number of signatures on the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution with the non-signing Constitutional Convention delegates, and then adds to that sum the number of congressmen in the First Federal Congress, one obtains a total of 238 “slots” or “positions” in these groups which one can classify as “Founding Fathers” of the United States. Because 40 individuals had multiple roles (they signed multiple documents and/or also served in the First Federal Congress), there are 204 unique individuals in this group of “Founding Fathers.” These are the people who did one or more of the following:

– signed the Declaration of Independence
– signed the Articles of Confederation
– attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787
– signed the Constitution of the United States of America
– served as Senators in the First Federal Congress (1789-1791)
– served as U.S. Representatives in the First Federal Congress

The religious affiliations of these individuals are summarized below. Obviously this is a very restrictive set of names, and does not include everyone who could be considered an “American Founding Father.” But most of the major figures that people generally think of in this context are included using these criteria, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Hancock, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and more.

Courtesy adherents.com

Religious Affiliation of U.S. Founding Fathers

# of Founding Fathers/% of Founding Fathers

Episcopalian/Anglican 88 54.7%
Presbyterian 30 18.6%
Congregationalist 27 16.8%
Quaker 7 4.3%
Dutch Reformed/German Reformed 6 3.7%
Lutheran 5 3.1%
Catholic 3 1.9%
Huguenot 3 1.9%
Unitarian 3 1.9%
Methodist 2 1.2%
Calvinist 1 0.6%
TOTAL 204

The Founding Fathers were, without a doubt, aware of the following passage:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. – 2 Corinthians 3:17

The Liberals and Atheists who reply to my daily articles, after they view them on SpartaReport.com, my personal blog site, and on Facebook, insist that Crosses and other Christian symbols have no place in the Public Square.  They wish for Christians to remain unseen and unheard from, worshiping in private, and for Christian Americans to  “compromise” our Faith…i.e., shut up about Homosexual Marriage and other sins,  being used as political expediencies to further an agenda to “radically change” America into something that it was never meant to be.

Well,  y’all can wish for a unicorn to magically appear in your backyard…but that ain’t gonna happen, either.

As a free nation, all you who are non-believers have every right to exercise your faith.

However, as Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the Jewish Policy Center clearly explains:

[I] understand that I live . . . in a Christian nation, albeit one where I can follow my faith as long as it doesn’t conflict with the nation’s principles. The same option is open to all Americans and will be available only as long as this nation’s Christian roots are acknowledged and honored.

…Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the west is doomed. Which is why I, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, devoted to Jewish survival, the Torah, and Israel am so terrified of American Christianity caving in. God help Jews if America ever becomes a post-Christian society! Just think of Europe!

Is the Rabbi prophetic? I pray that he isn’t.

I have, however, noticed in the last few years, a propensity among those who have not been raised in a Christian home, to be intolerant toward those who have…as witnessed in public forms, ranging from Collegiate Classrooms to Facebook Political Pages.

Americans’ Christian Faith, of which approximately 3/4ths of us, according to Gallup, still anchor our lives around, has been the Solid Rock upon which our nation was built. To deny that, is to deny reality, to re-write history, and, to, quite frankly, endanger “the Shining City on a Hill”.

To put it bluntly…

The “Reason for the Season” is The Reason American Exists.

As President Ronald Reagan said,

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under. 

That being said, isn’t it interesting that those among us who claim to be the most tolerant are actually the least tolerant of all?

And, those who claim to be champions of “personal freedom” are enemies of the religious freedom secured for us in the United States Constitution?

Watch the political maneuvering up on Capitol Hill after the Democrats take over the House of Representatives and see who talks about Freedom and Responsibility and who talks about the right of “citizens”, both legal and illegal, to “free stuff” like “socialized medicine”.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. – Matthew 7:20

In closing, be of good cheer and remember the words of a great old Christmas Hymn…

There is a Great Joy a’coming!

 

Until He Comes,

KJ

In an Era of “Celebrity Pastors” and Megachurches, Perhaps It’s Time to Return to “The Little Brown Church in the Vale”

On By kingsjesterIn ChristianityLeave a comment

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Those outside the church expect followers of Christ to live differently, yet today many in church are chasing after the world – not to win them, but to be like them. – Reverend Billy Graham

ChristianPost.com reports that

In recent years, a number of high-profile evangelical church leaders have fallen from their pedestals — and the landing has been anything but soft. Often, the story goes like this: A “celebrity pastor” with a wide sphere of influence falls prey to sin, leaving in his wake a trail of chaos and disillusionment.

From sexual impropriety to alcoholism, these moral failures are met with shock and disbelief from many in the Christian community. What exactly went wrong?

Jimmy Evans, senior pastor of Gateway Church, a multi-campus church in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, told The Christian Post that the problem often begins when pastors isolate themselves — from others, from accountability, and ultimately, from the truth.

“We’re all human beings, and I believe pastors who fall put themselves in a position of secrecy,” he explained. “I’ve never met a pastor that didn’t have the same basic temptations as the other guy. The difference is how we deal with it.”

Isolation, Evans contended, is one of Satan’s greatest weapons.

“The devil works in the darkness,” he said. “As pastors, we need to not put ourselves in a position of living a private life away from the eyes of others. That’s why pastors fall, and it can happen to any pastor. It’s the way we carry ourselves, the way we relate to people around us, whether we’re honest or dishonest.”

Scott Sauls, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and author of From Weakness to Strength: 8 Vulnerabilities That Can Bring Out the Best in Your Leadership, told CP that pastors become more susceptible to isolation as their ministry grows.

“The bigger your church becomes, you begin to have more fans and admirers than you do actual friends,” he said. “It’s really important to be surrounded by people who are close enough to you, that they can express concern with you and your character and help steer you toward toward Christ. Pastors need to welcome this kind of friendship, community, and accountability.”

Thanks in part to the rise of social media, the “celebrity pastor” phenomen is relatively new. And while the Gospel is able to reach formerly uncharted territory, so, unfortunately, are scandals within the body of Christ. What once remained within the four walls of the church are now able to creep into a watching, scornful world.

Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of Cross Church of Northwest Arkansas, explained that humans are made to worship. It’s no surprise then, that in a celebrity-obsessed culture, worship is often directed toward an influential pastor or charismatic church leader. But when congregants put their pastors on pedestals, he warned, the results are disastrous.

“There is always the danger to idolize a pastor,” he said. “But they are men. And that’s what the country and church is being reminded of — pastors are just men. We live a very fast life today, and when we’re not careful, we become careless in the way we live. We can’t let our guard down. That’s why God says, ‘Guard your heart.'”

Sauls clarified that the problem doesn’t necessarily lie with the “celebrity” aspect. There are, he said, healthy “celebrity pastors,” adding, “That’s why we have the Francis Chans and Tim Kellers and others of the world.”

But sometimes, people who attend well-known churches aren’t committed to Christ or His Church; rather, their allegiance lies with the engaging, influential pastor. Unfortunately, he said, these leaders may have extraordinary gifts — but questionable character.

“And that’s why we see a lack of humility and sometimes even a moral collapse, even among well-known pastors,” Sauls explained. “Staying anchored in the truth and the simple ordinary aspects of daily faithfulness, I think, is much more important than chasing spectacular sermons and spectacular worship events.”

I have been a church member for as long as I can remember.

Whether it was attending Sunday School as a child, being a part of a youth group when I got older, or teaching Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and singing in church choirs as an adult, I have had the pleasure of being friends with Christians from all walks of life, including pastors.

One of my family’s best friends was “Brother George”, a warm, wonderful man who worked as Sears during the holidays to help make sure that his family had a Merry Christmas.

I can remember as a child holding hands with my family around my grandmother’s deathbed in our home as Brother George led us in prayer.

The pastors I have known throughout my life were all strong in the faith and were men “after God’s own heart”. Like David himself, they were far from perfect. However, when you were around them you knew that they loved God, His Holy Word, and His people.

The growth over the last couple of decades of these so-called Megachurches with their “Celebrity Pastors” has not only puzzled me but concerned me as well.

While Megachurches, such as Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, Tennessee, can accomplish great and wonderful things in the name of the Lord, I’ve just never found attending one to be my cup of tea.

The reason being, I want the Man of God presiding over my funeral to actually KNOW me.

Not only that, but I want him to shake my hand on Sunday morning and ask me how things are going in my life. And, if I, my wife, or one of my family are in the hospital , I want him to come by to visit.

If I was attending a Megachurch, the Pastor would not know me anymore than President Trump knew that I was sitting in the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi for his MAGA Rally in October.

Sure, I may get to know some of the people in the church and that is fine. I love being in the company of fellow Christians.

And, come to think of it, I could accomplish that by staying at home with my wife in our matching recliners watching a church service on television.

I may be old-fashioned but I believe in the concept of a “Church Family”, not a “Celebrity Pastor” being adored by thousands in a church the size of a concert venue.

The size and notoriety of a church and its pastor are not as important as their heart for God.

After all, one Good Shepherd and 12 disciples changed the entire world.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Being a Majority Christian Nation Does Not Mean Having Open Borders

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

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As caravans of unvetted and reportedly armed Central Americans make their way to our Southern Border to enter our Sovereign Nation by any means necessary, Daniel Darling, a Vice-President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention has written the following admonition in an Opinion Piece for the Liberal Newspaper, The Washington Post…

As thousands of migrants from Central America travel in a large caravan by foot through Honduras and across Mexico’s southern border, many Americans are citing the words at the base of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

But for American Christians, another text — Genesis 1:26, in the first book of the Bible — should shape this often vitriolic debate. We should remember that all human beings, including immigrants, were created in God’s image. Followers of Jesus should lead the conversation by recognizing the humanity of those who seek to enter our country and should reject language that assaults their dignity. And we should be the first to speak up for the stranger. After all, our story is a story of people on the move, from Genesis to Revelation. And we are, in a spiritual sense, not yet home.

In the first book of Peter, we are told we are “foreigners and exiles” on our way to that city “whose builder and maker is God,” from Hebrews 11.

Admittedly, the United States cannot take in all the world’s most vulnerable, and our elected officials have a responsibility, according to Romans 13, to keep us safe and to set reasonable limits. But surely the wealthiest and freest nation in the history of the world can, in a time of economic prosperity, take in more than we do?

Let’s remember that this debate is not, after all, happening in a vacuum, but during a time of such massive displacement of people, due to civil war, unrest and religious persecution. According to the United Nations, 65.8 million people were displaced at the end of 2017. Will those who have lost everything find, in American Christians, an open hand or a closed fist?

Ultimately public policy will be decided by our elected officials, but politicians respond to what they hear from their constituents.

What is required, at this moment, are leaders with the courage to reject the politics of fear and division, who are willing to work together to fix an immigration system everybody agrees is broken.

Young children are separated from their families and, at times, are tragically unaccounted for. Christian brothers and sisters fleeing persecution and terror are turned away. And our process for giving asylum seekers the chance to make the case that the United States should grant asylum is deeply flawed. Not only does this mean our nation fails to live up to its best ideals, but also that our nation is less safe. We should urge Congress to pass meaningful reform that balances security and compassion.

What gives me hope is that offline, out of the headlines, and in communities across the country, ordinary Christians are caring for refugees and immigrants in big and small ways. In my own community in Nashville, churches are reaching across denominational lines to provide job training, English classes and financial assistance to help ease assimilation into a new country.

Deciding immigration policy demands courage and wisdom from our leaders. But more importantly, it is an opportunity for the people of God to live out the gospel by seeing the face of God in the faces of the vulnerable.

Americans are the most compassionate people in the world.

Attached to the church I attend, is an independently-run Food Bank which feeds 2,000 people per month while assisting them in finding the state services that they need. It is manned by a volunteer staff of members from my church and other denominations in the community.

That being said, while we are told to be compassionate, we are also told to be “wise as serpents”.

While we are instructed in the Old Testament to “treat foreigners nicely”, there is no scripture in the Old or New Testament which instructs us to automatically make strangers citizens of our country. It is quite a stretch to use the Bible to make a case to “abolish all borders”. Although, I do not think that this is what Mr. Darling was saying.

However, getting back to the “wise as serpents” quote from earlier, I believe as a Christian that my faith in the Triune God does not require me to be naïve.

One would have to be a fool to intentionally bring in thousands of people into our “home” when there have already been dangerous criminals, including those with weapons meant to be used against us, found within their ranks.

The scripture from Romans 13 alluded to in Mr. Darling’s article instructs

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.”

Wouldn’t the maintaining of our nation’s borders and the following of our nation’s immigration laws fall under that admonition?

Of course, when a government has become morally illegitimate, then Romans 13 no longer applies.

Anne Frank found herself in this situation with Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich.

President Trump is NOT disobeying God by enforcing our immigration laws and protecting our Sovereignty and our citizenry. Those who are attempting to cross our borders illegally are the ones who are in the wrong here.

President Trump actually agrees with you, Mr. Darling. We have terrible immigration laws and we must change them.

…After we secure our Southern Border.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Perhaps the Upcoming Elections are Not So Much About Politics as They are About “Princes and Principalities”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

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Yesterday, an anti-Semitic Trump-hating animal walked into a Pittsburgh Synagogue and opened fire, killing 11 innocent Americans and wounding 6 others.

That horrific violence was, I hope, the pinnacle of a rising mountain of violence, unrest, and hatred which has been escalating as our country’s Midterm Elections grow near.

This country has been pulling apart at the seams since the night of November 8, 2016, which Donald J. Trump was elected as our 45th President.

And the thing is, it is not his fault.

The direction which the Modern Democratic Party has taken to the Far Left of the Political Spectrum has put them at odds with the majority of Americans who still hold dear the Traditional Faith and Values System upon which our Sovereign Nation was founded.

Looking back on yesterday’s massacre, the phony “bombs” sent to Democratic Leaders and CNN, the out-of-control attacks on Associate Justice Kavanaugh during his Confirmation Hearings and on Republican Politicians and average Americans by Antifa and the rest of the New Bolsheviks, it is very apparent that there is something that is literally tearing apart the fabric of our country.

The only conclusion that I, as a Christian American can reach, is the fact that our Sovereign Nation is in the midst of SPIRITUAL WARFARE for its very soul.

Make no mistake about it, boys and girls, EVIL EXISTS.

My friends, I believe that we are fighting a war against “princes and principalities”. Evil is still alive and well and flourishing in a world in which relative morality and situational ethics are increasingly being accepted as normal behavior.

We see it everyday around us.

It inundates the cable news channels, 24 hours a day. Heck, you can even see it on Facebook.

Since Cain slew Able with a rock, mankind, because we are all fallen creatures, has had to deal with the presence of evil in our lives.

From the legendary massacres, perpetrated by Vlad the Impaler, to the horrific scenes of Hitler’s Concentration Camps, to the killing fields of Pol Pot, to the massacre of innocent Middle Eastern Christians by Islamic State, to the murders by Chicago Street Gangs every night, the Forces of Evil continue to flourish across the globe.

Who we as a nation are struggling with are those forces who want to turn our country into not just an immoral society, but, an amoral one, whose concept of right and wrong is “Whatever Gets You Through the Night (It’s Alright. It’s Alright.)”, and whose ultimate authority is not the God of Abraham, but a Godless All-Powerful Central Government, whose credo is

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. (Karl Marx)

Just as Marxism has failed wherever it has been tried before, so would it fail here.

Just as amorality and licentiousness led to the destruction of the Roman Empire, so, if allowed to do so, would it lead to America’s.

The galling thing is the fact that, even though American Christians remain 75% of the population, we are propagandized and suppressed by the Liberals in both the Old and New Media, to make it seem as if WE are the Minority, when, in fact, WE are the overwhelming Majority.

It is this New Generation of Amoral Socialists, who are in fact, just a tiny, albeit vocal, Minority of America’s population.

So, what can an average Christian American, like you and me, do about this “Tyranny of the Minority”?

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians, we can STAND.

However, you cannot stand without “the full armor of God”. I have found, as have my family and friends, that the better that you are doing, in terms of your Christian Walk, the harder that you will be attacked.

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.…- Ephesians 6:10-12

Our Christianity as Americans does not and can not end at Noon on Sunday, as we shake the Preacher’s hand and walk out of the sanctuary.

As every Christian knows, the Triune God dwells within each of us, in the form of that “still, small voice”, the Holy Spirit.

And, we must allow that “still, small voice” to accompany us to the voting booth on November 6th.

Christians have to make a choice in these tough times.

The choice we each have to make is whether to “give to Caesar” that which is not his, our Christian Faith, or to listen to that “still, small voice” and decide which candidates will best serve and protect our Sovereign Nation and its citizenry from our enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC.

This is not just a “Political Choice” which we as Christian Americans are facing right now.

As I wrote earlier, America is in the midst of a battle of “Princes and Principalities”.

By now. you’re probably asking, “So what’s the point of all this, KJ?”

We are given free will by our Creator…will to make choices and decisions on the direction of our lives. Being human, we often don’t make the right decisions and being human, those decisions have the potential to lead us down a dark path.

Whether it is in reality or strictly in the close quarters of our own consciousness, the path we choose to follow is up to us. However, our parents, family, and friends can make a difference in our journey and I thank God that through His Grace I was given a Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

We still live in the greatest country on the face of the earth and we still have a responsibility to one another and to those who have gone before us, risking their very lives to secure our freedom.

The Light or the Darkness. The choice is up to each and every one of us.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:14 (ESV)

And, I stand with the King of Kings.

You see, gentle readers, I’ve read the back of The Book.

The Good Guys win.

Between now and November 6th, be thinking and praying about the direction which you would have America take in the future.

Do you want us to be “One Nation under God” or “The Tower of Babel”?

Also, as you go about your day today, remember, that we have an Advocate, in Jesus Christ the Righteous, and, He is in our corner.

So, take that “little light” of yours, and let it shine.

Until He Comes,

KJ

SC Ruling for Christian Baker Shocks the Intolerant Left

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

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A Gallup Poll, published on December 22, 2017 showed about 3/4ths or 75% of America’s Population self-identify as Christian.

The same polling company, Gallup, reported in 2015 that just 3.8% of America’s population self-identify as “LGBT”.

So, what happens when someone from the 3.8% attempts to force someone belonging to the 75% to perform an act which goes against their faith and that American takes it all the way to the Supreme Court?

America found out the answer to that question yesterday.

Thomson Reuters Foundation News reported that

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory on narrow grounds to a Colorado Christian baker who refused for religious reasons to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, stopping short of setting a major precedent allowing people to claim exemptions from anti-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs. The justices, in a 7-2 decision, said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed an impermissible hostility toward religion when it found that baker Jack Phillips violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by rebuffing gay couple David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012. The state law bars businesses from refusing service based on race, sex, marital status or sexual orientation.

The ruling concluded that the commission violated Phillips’ religious rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

But the justices did not issue a definitive ruling on the circumstances under which people can seek exemptions from anti-discrimination laws based on their religious views. The decision also did not address important claims raised in the case including whether baking a cake is a kind of expressive act protected by the Constitution’s free speech guarantee.

Two of the court’s four liberals, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, joined the five conservative justices in the ruling authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who also was the author of the landmark 2015 decision legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

“The commission’s hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion,” Kennedy wrote.

But Kennedy also stressed the importance of gay rights while noting that litigation on similar issues is likely to continue in lower courts.

“Our society has come to the recognition that gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth,” Kennedy wrote.

“The outcome of cases like this in other circumstances must await further elaboration in the courts, all in the context of recognizing that these disputes must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs, and without subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market,” Kennedy added.

The case marked a test for Kennedy, who has authored significant rulings that advanced gay rights but also is a strong advocate for free speech rights and religious freedom.

Of the 50 states, 21 including Colorado have anti-discrimination laws protecting gay people.

The case pitted gay rights against religious liberty. President Donald Trump’s administration intervened in the case in support of Phillips.

Mullins and Craig were planning their wedding in Massachusetts in 2012 and wanted the cake for a reception in Colorado, where gay marriage was not yet legal. During a brief encounter at Phillips’ Masterpiece Cakeshop in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, the baker politely but firmly refused, leaving the couple distraught.

They filed a successful complaint with the state commission, the first step in the six-year-old legal battle. State courts sided with the couple, prompting Phillips to appeal to the top U.S. court. Phillips has said a backlash against his business has left him struggling to keep the shop afloat

The Homosexual Lobby and their supporters, affectionately known as the “Gay Mafia”, have been stepping it up a notch for quite a while now, suing Americans and getting them fired over their Christian faith.

Even the real Mafia does not attack people’s faith. In fact, the legendary Mafioso, Al Capone, gave tons of money to Chicago’s Catholic Charities. And, when the Mafia has to terminate the employment of one of their soldiers, emphasis on the word terminate, they make sure that their family is taken care of.

Not so with the Gay Mafia. If you do not support their agenda, they will sue you, see that you are fired, make you lose everything that you have in this world, and will not care one bit, if you and your family are put out on the street.

Just as the decadent leaders of ancient Rome fed the early Christians to the Lions, so is the unconscionable Gay Mafia tossing aside Christians in their quest for their deviant sexual behavior to be classified as normal.

In fact, I’ll go you one better: these idiots’ fanatical insensitivity to the welfare of believers who have the moral courage to oppose their hedonistic lifestyle, is reminiscent of those Radical Muslims we know as the Taliban.

Which is the height of irony if you think about it, because Radical Muslims not only behead Christians, they remove the heads of homosexual Muslims as well.

You have seen me saying time and time again, that it is funny how those among us who claim to be the most tolerant, are actually the least of all.

The Gay Mafia or, more appropriately, The Gay Taliban, are prime examples.

As with any liberal, as long as you believe what they believe, you’re one of the smartest people in the room. However, as soon as you cross them, and stand up for your own Christian Heritage of Faith, you are labeled a stupid “Christianist” and/or an “intolerant”, inbred hillbilly.

Additionally, after American voters in the majority of states got together to express their opposition to homosexual marriage through their right to vote, the Gay Mafia found a sympathetic (at the time) Supreme Court to rule that marriage is a “Civil Right”, instead of a Holy Sacrament…a bond between a man and a woman, ordained by God.

The problem that Christians and Conservatives alike face is the fact that being Pro-homosexual marriage is the “cool” thing to be now.

Even if it is at the expense of the First Amendment.

The Far Left members of the Modern Democratic Party have proven that they cannot stand Christian Americans. It is evident from their condescension toward us and derision of our traditional values and ethics in their propaganda. Our Constitution gives us Religious Freedom in its very First Amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Please note that this amendment does not say “in some circumstances”.

Those who are in the Pro-Homosexual Marriage Liberal Lobbying Group, or “Gay Mafia”, firmly believe that their right to force us to accept their belief system trumps our First Amendment Rights as Christian Americans to practice our faith in the workplace.

As Monday’s ruling by the Highest Court in the Land so starkly demonstrated…They’re WRONG.

The concerted effort by the Gay Mafia and the Liberal Activists in America’s Legal System, which quite frankly appears to be fascist in nature, to force Christian Businessmen and Businesswomen to forgo their faith, in order to service gay marriages, has been meeting a backlash from average Americans living in the Heartland for quite a while now, which is being desperately covered up by the Main Stream Media and the shrieking Progressives.

These same average Americans elected Donald J. Trump as our 45th President.

These average Americans with common sense have been asking all along…

Why can’t these gay couples simply go to other businesses, who will bake their wedding cakes for them, instead of trying to force Christian Americans to do something which is against their faith?

Because that would not make the news nor would it provide the impetus for “radical change” (remember THAT term?).

Neither would it serve their purpose to go into a Christian Baker for a dozen donuts, a cinnamon roll, or a “bear claw”.

Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, once said that

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

This continuing Liberal War against Christian American Small Business Owners, based on the lie that these business owners will not serve gay people, ever, proves that Goebbels was actually right about the intolerant gullibility of some people.

Even in a country founded by Christian Men.

Until He Comes,

KJ