The Toronto Attack – Terrorism in a PC Country

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“It was with great sadness that I heard about the tragic and senseless attack that took place in Toronto this afternoon. On behalf of all Canadians, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of those who were killed, and my thoughts for a fast and full recovery to those injured.

“I thank the first responders at the scene who managed this extremely difficult situation with courage and professionalism. They faced danger without hesitation, and their efforts no doubt saved lives and prevented further injuries.

“We should all feel safe walking in our cities and communities. We are monitoring this situation closely, and will continue working with our law enforcement partners around the country to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.” – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Foxnews.com reports that

Police in Toronto identified the suspected driver of a van that rammed into a crowd of pedestrians earlier Monday, and said they would not rule out terrorism as a possible motive.

The vehicle was driven by Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, police said. Minassian allegedly drove into dozens of people intentionally, killing 10 and injuring 15 others.

“We don’t rule out anything,” Toronto Police Service Chief Mark Saunders said in a Monday evening news conference. “We need to follow what we have.

“Based on witness accounts, its very clear the actions definitely looked deliberate,” Saunders said. He said the suspect had not been known to police previously.

After striking the pedestrians, Minassian sped off, CBC reported. Witnesses said the driver was moving fast and appeared to be acting intentionally. Photos from the site of the collision showed people trying to help victims on the ground and multiple bodies covered by sheets. 

“We don’t rule out anything,” Toronto Police Service Chief Mark Saunders said in a Monday evening news conference. “We need to follow what we have.”

“Based on witness accounts, its very clear the actions definitely looked deliberate,” Saunders said. He said the suspect had not been known to police previously.

After striking the pedestrians, Minassian sped off, CBC reported. Witnesses said the driver was moving fast and appeared to be acting intentionally. Photos from the site of the collision showed people trying to help victims on the ground and multiple bodies covered by sheets. 

For anybody with more than 2 working brain cells, (and, I know that leaves out a lot of Liberals) once the attacker in Toronto was initially identified as being a Muslim, it was game over.

So, why are Liberals in the United States of America and Canadian Liberals like their Prime Minister so afraid to call Muslim Terrorists, Muslim Terrorists?

Is it because of that heinous practice, known as Political Correctness?

We’ve all been a victim of it. And, it’s not just the Liberals who practice it.

A few years back, a young Libertarian woman, who just happened to be Black, had posted an article in a Facebook Page for Conservatives and Libertarians, featuring Patti Davis, the Liberal (and crazy) daughter of Former President Ronald Reagan. Davis had come out as the moral arbiter of some issue, and I pointed out that she was not fit to be the “moral arbiter” in any situation, as to torque off her Dad and make a political statement, she had posed topless for the cover of Playboy in 1994 with a Black guy standing behind her cupping her…umm…chest.

Both the young lady and her husband, who happened to be White, jumped on me like I was some sort of RAAACIIIST because I stated the obvious.

archiesammyTimes were different back in ’94. Just as they were different back in the 70s, when Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear created All in the Family, starring the great American actor, Carroll O’Connor. The misadventures of Archie Bunker and his family could not be a hit today. Our intolerant American Liberals (and others) would not allow it. And, the lessons learned from that ground-breaking television series would be lost.

Perhaps, the reticence by Canadian and American Liberals to identify the religious/political ideology of Radical Islamic Terrorists, such as the one driving the van in Toronto, is something else: the inability to admit that their naiveté concerning open borders and the existence of Radical Islam is encouraging these horrendous attacks.

The fact that this murdering terrorist was a Muslim, does not reflect well on the Liberal Philosophy of “Co-existence”.

Additionally, the fact that this barbarian infiltrated Canada in the first place and killed all the innocent people that he did, shows the folly of Modern American Liberals’ crusade against the actions that President Trump is undertaking to protect us, including the wall along our Southern Border..

Even as barbarous acts like yesterday’s unfold in civilized nations around the world, including ours, I continue to hear and read from some of this “Me, First Generation” that there is not any difference between American Christianity and Radical Islam. Quite frankly, that’s like saying that there’s no difference between Mister Rogers and Ted Bundy (look them up, children).

In Islam, the way to “walk with God and escape his judgement on that final day of judgment” is through ‘falah’, which means self-effort or positive achievement. The faithful must submit to God and follow all of his laws as found in the Koran. Judgment day in Islam involves some sort of measurement of what the believer has done wrong and what they have done right. And, even then, you might not be let into heaven if Allah decides you’re not good enough.

This is the direct opposite of Christianity.

According to the Bible, no man can ever be good enough to deserve God’s favor, to win God’s heaven, because from birth we have Free Will. This Free Will may cause us to reject God and live our lives our own way. That’s why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to die for our sins, covering us in His blood of the New Covenant.

God’s Word tells us that what we need is not ‘falah,’ but faith. To have faith in, to trust, to rely on Jesus and his death as “the expiation for our sins”. Those who have been Saved by Jesus Christ can be sure that in the future God will welcome them into heaven with wide open arms, because they have been washed by His blood.

Islam and Christianity present two very different Deities, who may share some similarities, but who have different identities and ultimately different standards. To pretend they are the same is not only to be clueless of the faith of 76% of the citizens of this nation, but, to be ignorant of an integral part of our American Heritage, the legacy of Christian Faith, which our Founding Fathers bequeathed us.

I mean, have I missed something, or was a Southern Baptist arrested recently for beating several Americans to death with a covered dish or a chicken leg?

I’m just sayin’…

Until He Comes,

KJ

He is Risen! Resurrection Day 2018

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This morning, as I lay in bed, The Lord had me thinking about Him. These thoughts were about what today, a day that Christians around the world celebrate as the day that Jesus Christ rose victorious from the grave, must have been like.

Pretend for a moment, that you are an average citizen living at the time of Christ…

[For the past three years, you have seen this charismatic young man speak about the love and mercy of God, and how His Grace and Forgiveness is freely given, IF…

And, there’s the catch…

According to this carpenter’s son from Nazareth, you have to confess your sins, and ask the Great I am, for forgiveness.

Whoa! Wait a minute. Who is this guy? A radical? Ask Yahweh for forgiveness. And, what’s that he said? You will then have a personal relationship with His Father?

How can that be? This is the Great I am. This is the Deity of Vengeance who destroyed those escaped slaves from Egypt for throwing a party, while Moses was up on a mountain, and building and worshiping a Golden Calf.

And, remember what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar? Daniel interpreted a dream for him, explaining that his kingdom would be ruled over by Gentiles until God sent His King. Ol’ Nebby got mad, because he couldn’t rule over the Israelites and over the whole world unless God allowed him to do so. He forgot that, and became very proud. He tried to make the people think that he was very wonderful, and that they should worship him. He didn’t trust God as some of the kings of the Israelites did, but had the very foolish idea that he could be a wise and wonderful king without any help from God.

So, what do you suppose occurred?

Why, the King had another dream, and when he found out what it meant it was really terrible. In this dream God told him that he would lose his mind and would go out in the field and eat grass just like the cattle for seven years. And Nebuchadnezzar actually did this, too. Can you imagine a mighty king, as he thought himself to be, crawling around on the ground eating grass? The Bible tells us that his hair grew long and coarse and looked like bird feathers, and his fingernails became like the claws of animals.

Finally, though, Nebuchadnezzar’s reason returned to him, and when he found out what he had done he was very much ashamed of himself. However, he learned by this experience that he was not as wise and powerful as he had thought. Learning this, he gave praise to God for allowing him to be the ruler.

This is the God that the guy from Nazareth is telling us that we can have a personal relationship with?

Strange indeed.

I have noticed that while he is hanging there the guards and some of the townspeople there are mocking Jesus, telling him that if he is the Son of God, to ”jump down off of that cross”. Meanwhile,  some of the centurions are casting lots over his robe.

All except this one centurion, who is just watching Him, as if he is waiting for something to happen…]

And, then came the Glorious Morning…

[Wow. It’s really been amazing around here since they crucified Jesus. Did you feel that earthquake? The veil of the temple was torn in half! And did you hear? A bunch of people that had died years ago, were seen walking around the city! But that’s not all. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard?

Listen to this: He has risen! He arose from the dead and was seen by several people. It’s true! I know it sounds unbelievable. I can scarcely take it in myself. Mary Magdalene and Mary, James and Salome’s mother, went to the tomb to perform the anointing of His body and it wasn’t there! On top of that, there was this young guy there, dressed in a white robe. They said he must have been 9 feet tall. He said, “You are seeking Jesus of Nazareth. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. See the place where you laid him.” So they went and told the disciples. But you know how Peter is. He just had to go run up there and see for himself.

Jesus even approached two of them on the road to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize him. He even broke bread with them that night. They realized who He was and He disappeared! They ran to tell the disciples and as they were telling them, Jesus appeared right in front of them! They were all starting to panic. Jesus said, “Peace to you.” But they couldn’t believe it was him, especially Thomas. So he had him touch him in the hole in his hand where they drove the nail and where the spear pierced his side.

Jesus ate with them and performed other signs and miracles in front of them and they understood scripture as never before. He also came to them at the Sea of Tiberius. Peter took the disciples fishing and they weren’t catching anything. Jesus told them from the bank to cast the net down on the right side. They did, and they could hardly bring it in the boat! When they got back to land, Jesus already had a fire going and some fish and bread ready to eat. He asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and each time He told him “Feed my sheep’. Hey, isn’t that the same number of times Peter Denied Him?

Anyway, He taught them many things before He left. They watched as He was taken straight up into heaven. Can you imagine?

The disciples are making plans now to go out and starting spreading the Good News about Jesus’ Resurrection. They are talking about going out in pairs. Man. Nothing is ever going to be the same again.]

The despair being felt by the average citizens of Rome, at the time, is not unlike the situation which we, as average Christian Americans, find ourselves in today.

We, too, are still struggling in the darkness before the dawn.

Our American Culture has been crumbling before our very eyes, as sin, depravity, and personal irresponsibility have been lauded by “the smartest people in the room” as normal, and values to be embraced…a Golden Calf to be worshiped by those who have turned their backs of the Almighty, because He will not give them the worldly gratification they seek…and because they erroneously believe that they are smarter than God, and can interpret and ignore God’s Holy Word in order to ignore and to rewrite to make it mean whatever they want to, in order to assuage their own consciousness, in an attempt to stifle that “Still Small Voice” within them, Who is reminding them of their sin and the consequences of it.

On April 2, 1983, United States President Ronald Wilson Reagan spoke the following words, as part of an Easter/Passover Address:

This week as American families draw together in worship, we join with millions upon millions of others around the world also celebrating the traditions of their faiths. During these days, at least, regardless of nationality, religion, or race, we are united by faith in God, and the barriers between us seem less significant.

Observing the rites of Passover and Easter, we’re linked in time to the ancient origins of our values and to the unborn generations who will still celebrate them long after we’re gone. As Paul explained in his Epistle to the Ephesians, “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. So then you were no longer strangers and aliens, but you were fellow citizens of God’s household.”

This is a time of hope and peace, when our spirits are filled and lifted. It’s a time when we give thanks for our blessings-chief among them, freedom, peace, and the promise of eternal life.

This week Jewish families and friends have been celebrating Passover, a tradition rich in symbolism and meaning. Its observance reminds all of us that the struggle for freedom and the battle against oppression waged by Jews since ancient times is one shared by people everywhere. And Christians have been commemorating the last momentous days leading to the crucifixion of Jesus 1,950 years ago. Tomorrow, as morning spreads around the planet, we’ll celebrate the triumph of life over death, the Resurrection of Jesus. Both observances tell of sacrifice and pain but also of hope and triumph.

As we look around us today, we still find human pain and suffering, but we also see it answered with individual courage and spirit, strengthened by faith. For example, the brave Polish people, despite the oppression of a godless tyranny, still cling to their faith and their belief in freedom. Shortly after Palm Sunday Mass this week, Lech Walesa faced a cheering crowd of workers outside a Gdansk church. He held his hand up in a sign of victory and predicted, “The time will come when we will win.”

This great AMERICAN PRESIDENT also once said,

We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

Fellow Christian Americans….my message to you on this Resurrection Day 2018 is

DO NOT GIVE UP ON GOD. DO NOT GIVE UP ON THE FOUNDING FATHERS’ HOPE, WHICH BECAME AMERICA.

As the old country Preacher’s wife always told him,

Hold on to your fork, Hon. Dessert is on it’s way.

The final chapter of the amazing story of our Blessed Land has not been written yet. It is up to each and every one of us to write it, strengthened by the Grace of God.

Until He Comes,

KJ

“For God so loved the word, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

 

He is risen indeed!

Why Country Music Isn’t “Country Music” Anymore

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Sometimes…change is good.

Sometimes…it isn’t.

FoxNews.com’s Entertainment Division reported earlier this week that

On Wednesday, the former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate was announced as a new board member of the charitable arm of the group that runs the annual CMA Awards and CMA Festival.

But prominent music industry leaders swiftly criticized Huckabee’s appointment, including some who singled out his support for gun rights and traditional family values.

In his resignation letter to the CMA Foundation, Huckabee called his critics bullies, but said he was resigning to end an “unnecessary distraction” for the foundation.

“If the industry doesn’t want people of faith or who hold conservative and traditional political views to buy tickets and music, they should be forthcoming and say it,” Huckabee wrote. “Surely neither the artists or the business people of the industry want that.”

Huckabee also sounded a note of defiance on Twitter on Thursday night.

The 51st Annual CMA Awards, held in November, included numerous jabs at President Donald Trump.

The Former Governor of the great state of Arkansas is exactly right.

The East Cost/Left Coast Power Brokers have done to Country Music exactly what they did to Classical Liberalism.

They have jettisoned Traditional American Faith and Values for a shallow hedonistic conflagration of drinkin’, cheatin’, partyin’, and Liberal Politics, changing an entire music genre into something that it never was and was never meant to be.

On this Mississippi March Morning, just a few miles away from Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, I sit here reflecting on the influence which actual Country Music had on my young life, growing up with my Mother and Daddy.

Every family, to this day, has rituals that they observe like clockwork.

Our Saturday Night Ritual was to eat homemade hamburgers, spaghetti, or crockpot beans off of TV trays and watch Hee Haw, the syndicated country music variety show, out of Nashville, which starred Buck Owens, Roy Clark, and a “cast of thousands”.

The snotty folks up in the Northeast Corridor and Hollyweird never could figure out what made that “hick show”, that lasted 25 years, so popular.

After all, it was about traditional American Values, love of God and Country, respecting our American Musical Heritage, and featured talented performers who wrote songs, sang, played their own instruments, loved and appreciated their fans, and actually behaved like average Americans.

Plus, they had the good grace and common sense to keep their private lives, private.

At this time in our country’s history, when morality has become relative and ethics situational, we find our hearts crying out to hear something that will soothe our troubled souls.

Instead, we find synthesized, mass-produced Pop Music and “so-called” Country Music, actually more Pop Music, manufactured in New York City (pronounced like they do in the Pace Salsa Commercials), advocating meaningless one-night stands and encouraging the debasement of the human soul, instead of its ability to rise above any obstacle in its path that might hinder individual achievement.

With all of today’s over-produced, under-written Pop and Country-Pop Music flooding the airwaves of both broadcast and satellite radio, Americans my age wonder where all the great Country Songwriters and Performers have gone to?

What is happening to country music reflects a lot about the culture we live in. Artists who actually lived what they sung about like Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, The Statlers, Jim Ed Brown, Porter Waggoner, Hank Williams, Jr., Randy Travis, Jeannie C. Riley, and Elvis Presley have been replaced by fashion models and wannabe rock stars.

Please don’t get me wrong.

There are still Americans performing country music. Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Reba, Martina McBride, Clint Black, Brooks and Dunn (who are back together and appearing with Reba in Las Vegas), Rascal Flatts, among others, are still attempting to keep the spirit of Country Music alive.

However, in our culture of fast lives, fast food, and instant gratification, superficiality sells. That’s how we got stuck for 8 long years with Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm).

It is easier and more profitable for a record company to sell someone who looks good and can sing a little, or to release a country music album made by a fading rock star, than it is for them to market someone who is unbelievably talented and writes their own songs, but who resembles your next door neighbor.

Remember the Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison Country Music CD fiascos?

No? I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t admit it, either.

Can you imagine Hank Williams, Sr., Patsy Cline, or Buck Owens trying to get a record deal today?

I’m sorry Mr. Williams. Your vocalization is way too twangy and you drink way too much. “I Saw The Light”? What kind of song is that? A song about redemption? Get real. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”? Who Cares? You’re just not marketable.

Ms. Cline, we can’t use you. You look like somebody’s next door neighbor.

Mr. Owens, what is the “Bakersfield sound” that you’re talking about? That won’t get any airtime in New York City. “Act Naturally”? That’s a song? Next thing you know, you’ll tell me that the Beatles will want to record it.

Now you know why Toby Keith formed his own record label.

The big recording companies like RCA Nashville and Arista are run like any other business. Executives are transferred from other cities and other divisions within the company and are judged to be successful by the amount of revenue they generate. The decision was made several years ago to turn country music into pop music. Country Music started the transition from Kitty Wells to Taylor Swift and from George Jones to Kid Rock in an effort to claim a bigger share of the CD-buying public. The disconnect arises when you take a genre that has traditionally sung about God, America, family, and heartache and try to make it about fashionistas, MTV, and shallow people with situational morality and ethics.

Just like the Liberal Politics of the outspoken harpies, the Dixie Chicks, it just doesn’t work here in America’s Heartland.

…As was proven on November 8, 2016.

As we say in Dixie,

That dog don’t hunt.

Alan Jackson and George Strait were prophets.

Nobody saw him running from sixteenth avenue
They never found the fingerprint or the weapon that was used
But someone killed country music, cut out its heart and soul
They got away with murder down on music row

The almighty dollar and the lust for worldwide fame
Slowly killed tradition and for that someone should hang
They all say not guilty, but the evidence will show
That murder was committed down on music row

For the steel guitars no longer cry and fiddles barely play
But drums and rock ‘n’ roll guitars are mixed up in your face
Old Hank wouldn’t have a chance on today’s radio
Since they committed murder, down on music row

They thought no one would miss it, once it was dead and gone
They said no one would buy them old drinking and cheating songs
Well I’ll still buy ’em
Well there ain’t no justice in it and the hard facts are cold
Murder’s been committed, down on music row

Oh, the steel guitars no longer cry and you can’t hear fiddles play
With drums and rock ‘n roll guitars mixed right up in your face
Why, the hag, he wouldn’t have a chance on today’s radio
Since they committed murder down on music row
Why, they even tell the posse to pack up and go back home
There’s been an awful murder down on music row

“Murder on Music Row”. George Strait/Alan Jackson, 2000

Please excuse my grammar,

But, what the East and Left Coast Liberals have done to “Country Music” today, ain’t just murder.

It’s a MASSACRE.

Until He Comes,

KJ

“America’s Pastor” Billy Graham to Lie in State in US Capitol Rotunda Next Week – Why It’s Appropriate

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“Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” – Reverend Billy Graham

ABCNews.com reports that

The Rev. Billy Graham’s body will lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda next week, the first time a private citizen has been accorded such recognition since civil rights hero Rosa Parks in 2005.The two-day viewing in Washington on Feb. 28 and March 1 will be part of nine days of mourning for postwar America’s most famous evangelist, who died Wednesday at his home in North Carolina’s mountains at age 99.

“America’s Pastor” will be laid to rest March 2 at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway at the worldwide headquarters of his evangelical empire in Charlotte, buried in a simple prison-made plywood coffin next to his wife, Ruth, who died in 2007.

His tombstone will read “Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday announced the plans to honor Graham at the Capitol, a rite usually accorded presidents and other statesmen. A viewing will also be held at Graham’s Charlotte library on Monday and Tuesday.

The North Carolina-born farm boy reached hundreds of millions of listeners around with the world with his rallies — or what he called “crusades” — and his pioneering use of television.

More than anyone else, Graham built evangelicalism into a force that rivaled liberal Protestantism and Roman Catholicism in the U.S., and he became a confidant of presidents and other leaders.

His coffin was built by inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana, who typically construct caskets for fellow prisoners who cannot afford one.

Graham’s son the Rev. Franklin Graham toured the prison in 2005 and said he was so moved by the simple boxes lined with a mattress pad with a wooden cross nailed to the top that he asked for ones for his mother and father.

The funeral at Graham’s Charlotte headquarters will be held in a tent in the main parking lot of the library in tribute to the tent revivals in Los Angeles in 1949 that propelled him to international fame, family spokesman Mark Demoss said.

The impact which Rev. Billy Graham made on this terrestrial ball cannot be overstated.

According to The Billy Graham Library,

In over 55 years of ministry, Billy Graham has preached the Gospel message to more than 215 million people in over 185 countries around the world. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which he founded in 1950, reaches out to millions more each year through radio and television broadcasts, films, literature, training, events, and the Internet.

The biggest accomplishment that any of us can ever hope to achieve is to make a difference for the good in somebody’s life.

Rev. Graham made a difference in the lives of 215 million!

Yesterday morning, as I was watching Fox New’s “America’s Newsroom”, Bill Hemmer sat down for an interview with Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, the Arch Bishop of the New York Diocese.

Cardinal Dolan made the remark that when you watched Rev. Graham preach at one of his Crusades, there were no teleprompters. There was nothing “fancy”. It was just Rev. Graham and an open Bible.

Cardinal Dolan went on to say that Rev. Graham preached the Word of God from “The Inherent Word of God” in a way which touched the souls of those who were not only at the Crusades, both also those who were watching and listening around the world to his broadcasts on television and radio.

His unashamed love of God and his total devotion to spreading the message that ‘GOD LOVES YOU”! transcended foreign languages and cultures and brought people throughout the world to the knowledge that they “had an advocate in Jesus Christ The Righteous”.

Those of you who may not be a “Christian” are probably saying,

That is all well and good. But, why does this civilian deserve the honor of lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda? What about the “Separation of Church and State”?

Well, first off, please find for me in our Constitution where it calls for the “Separation of Church and State”.

Next, please find a more influential American over the last century than The Reverend Billy Graham.

On September 14, 2001, 3 days after the largest Terrorist Attack ever perpetrated on American Soil, Rev. Graham spoke the following words to a nation in mourning…

This week we watched in horror as planes crashed into the steel and glass of the World Trade Center. Those majestic towers, built on solid foundations, were examples of prosperity and creativity. When damaged, those buildings plummeted to the ground, imploding in upon themselves. Yet, underneath the debris, is a foundation that was not destroyed. Therein lies the truth of that hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.”

Yes, our nation has been attacked, buildings destroyed, lives lost. But now we have a choice: whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation; or to choose to become stronger through all of this struggle, to rebuild on a solid foundation.

And I believe that we are starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God. And in that faith, we have the strength to endure something as difficult and as horrendous as what we have experienced this week. This has been a terrible week with many tears.

But it also has been a week of great faith. In that hymn, “How Firm a Foundation,” the words say, “Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed,/For I am thy God, and will give thee aid;/I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,/Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”

My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us and that as we trust in Him we will know in our hearts that He will never forsake us.

His words helped to bring hope and healing to our nation and they ring out as true today as they were when he spoke them.

To this day, America remains a Majority-Christian Nation, with 70-75% of our population proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior.

The only other non-politician to lie in state in our nation’s Capitol was Civil Rights Pioneer, Rosa Parks. Just as she broke down barriers, so did Billy Graham. Just as she fought to free her people from the chains of discrimination, the Rev. Graham fought to free Americans from the shackles of sin which bound us and kept us from a relationship with the One who loves us.

America’s Pastor deserves to be honored as an American Hero and a Warrior for Christ.

Please allow me to end today’s post with the following prayer, written by The Rev. Billy Graham…

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable… We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from sin and Set us free. Amen!’

With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called ‘One nation under God!’ AMEN

Amen.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Why ABC is Getting Blasted for “The View’s” Attack on VP Pence’s Christianity

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“I actually heard that ABC has a program that compared my Christianity to mental illness. And I’d like to laugh about it, but I really can’t. It’s just wrong. And it’s an insult not to me, but to the vast majority of the American people who, like me, cherish their faith. My Christianity is the most important thing in my life.” – Vice-President Mike Pence

FoxNews.com reports that

ABC is facing mounting criticism after its panelists on “The View” mocked Vice President Mike Pence’s Christian faith. Detractors of “The View” are focusing on the fact that ABC News, which claims to be an unbiased broadcast news operation, oversees such a nakedly partisan program with one “token” conservative.

The women of “The View” took a shot at Pence’s Christian faith on Tuesday, mocking the former governor of Indiana for talking to Jesus and even calling it a “mental illness.”

Sunny Hostin said it’s “interesting” that former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman recently said that Pence talks to Jesus and believes Jesus tells him things. Hostin said she is a “faithful” Catholic but doesn’t want her vice president “speaking in tongues.” Joy Behar then said, “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you… that’s called mental illness.”

ABC News paints itself as a fair news organization but its longtime slogan, “See the Whole Picture,” often doesn’t apply to “The View,” according to many critics.

“It has become jarring how fixated the show is on politics and how slanted the table is,” Mediaite columnist Joseph Wulfsohn told Fox News.

Wulfsohn said it’s ABC News’ prerogative if network executives decide that having four outspoken liberals and a single “token” conservative is “profitable” but the decision “does a great disservice” by marginalizing the view of roughly half the country.

…Pence himself didn’t appreciate the comments and slammed ABC News Wednesday on C-SPAN.

During the Obama Administration, I wrote an ongoing series of articles highlighting “The War on Christianity” being waged on an almost daily basis by that President and his Administration, along with the Democratic Party’s minions in the Main Stream Media.

Now, we have a new President and Vice-President, who, gasp, actually support Christianity in America and are not shy about invoking the Name of God Almighty in their public speeches.

Heaven forbid! Well…Heaven doesn’t forbid…it encourages.

But, the Harpies on “The View” certainly want to.

The thought of an omnipresent God interferes with Modern Liberals’ belief that they are the most important thing in the universe.

You see, as long as they are the master of their own destiny, which in fact they are, because God gives us free will, their selfish behavior and their sinful lifestyle, present no personal consequences to them, and therefore, do not keep them awake at night. And yet, when you enter into a conversation with a member of this hedonistic generation, you soon find out that they aren’t as personally happy with their lifestyle choices, as they want you to believe that they are. Consequently, this whole effort by Political and Social Liberals alike, to push a new set of morals, values, and ethics on average Christian Americans, stems from the fact that they are all miserable, selfish, little cretins, who want their poor lifestyle choices validated and deemed as normal.

As I have stated before, America remains 75% Christian. And, this fact drives the Far left, including the current “Selfish Generation”, absolutely crazy….and desperate.

The Pharisitical reaction of Joy Behar and the other “ladies” on the show (I’m being charitable…after all, it’s Sunday morning) to Vice-President Pence’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ boggles the mind…but, it shouldn’t.

The disconnect shown by the self-appointed tribunal of all that is Liberally deemed to be acceptable Christianity is the same exact disconnect shown by the East and Left Coasts in the 2016 Presidential Election.

Unlike Modern Liberalism, Christianity as practiced by Americans is not just one “flavor”, or a “Hive-mind”, if you will.

And, while Ms. Behar and the rest of them were having a great time sitting in judgment of Vice-President Pence and his relationship with Our Lord and Savior, the overwhelming majority of Americans who proclaim him to be their Savior, as well, were offended by the intolerance of those who bill themselves as being the most tolerant people in any room that they walk into.

For you see, gentle readers, Christianity has never been about who can talk the talk.

It’s about walking The Walk.

Mike Pence walks The Walk.

And, like the Liberal Woman whom they supported in the 2016 Presidential Election, it is very apparent that the Modern Day Pharisees on ABC’s “The View” only talk the talk.

And, in the end, as history is their witness, they will appear to have overestimated their collective intelligence, also.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Ohio Abortion Center Puts Up Billboard Calling Abortion “Sacred” and a “Blessing”. I’m Not Kidding. – A KJ Sunday Morning Reflection

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“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

[Where am I? This is January…not June. What are all these bright lights? What’s that smell? I don’t understand. I was inside my mother, sucking my thumb, all nice and safe and warm. The next thing I know, I feel this pressure on either side of my head, and I was ripped out of my mother.

Why is this happening to me? I have a whole life ahead of me.

I deserve a Mother and a Father. I will never have those. Grandparents, either. Heck, I won’t even get to know my cousins.

I want to know what milk tastes like. I want to hold a Cheerio in my hand and put it in my mouth. I want to know what it’s like to get my first tooth…to take my first step….to hear music for the first time. I want to hold a puppy. I want to have a first day in school. I want to have a best friend. I want to ride a bike. I want to have a best friend and go out to play with them. I want to know what Christmas is all about. I want to eat a turkey leg at Thanksgiving…and to see a fireworks display on the 4th of July. I want to wear costumes on Halloween. I want to go to ballgames with my Father.

I want to watch cartoons. I want to love and be loved.

I want to fall in love. I want to experience my first kiss. I want to have my parents drop me and my date off at the movie and then pick us up. I want to play sports in school…or be an artist…or be a musician…or, just be a kid.

I want to go to a pep rally. I want to dance at a prom. I want to get a report card. Heck, I want to taste a school lunch.

I want to graduate and go to college. I want to start work…and have a family.

I want to live!

Wait! What are you doing with those scissors! Don’t…]

I was born three days before my mother’s 40th birthday. To say I was a surprise is an understatement. As I recently wrote, I truly believe that they were going to name me “Oops”. That being said, I am grateful that God convicted them, regarding the sanctity of the life that my mother was carrying within her.

Now, 43 years after the passing of Roe Vs. Wade, some idiots up in Ohio are proclaiming that the premature ending of a precious human life is a “sacred” act.

The Christian Post reports that

A controversial billboard campaign calling abortion “sacred,” “a blessing,” “family value,” “life-saving,” and “a second chance,” among other things, was launched this week by the largest abortion clinic in Ohio.

The 16 billboards put up across the Greater Cleveland area all start with the phrase “Abortion is _____” and are completed with a variety of words in support of the practice.

“We want to push people to think about abortion in new, diverse ways with these billboards,” explained Nancy Starner, Preterm’s director of development and communications.

“We want the people in our community who have had abortions to know that they’re not alone.”

The clinic further argues as part of its latest campaign that abortion is “normal and necessary,” “good medicine,” “safer than childbirth” and “right for me.” 

“To a physician, abortion may be a medical procedure that takes less than 10 minutes to perform. To a parent struggling to make ends meet, abortion may be the best way to love and care for your family. To a young person, abortion may be the chance to graduate,” it states.

Blasting the billboards, evangelist Franklin Graham said all of the statements made in Preterm’s ad campaign are “lies.”

“God says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.’ That’s exactly what an abortion business in Ohio is doing,” Graham argued. “Here’s a billboard for them—’Abortion is evil, because it’s murder.’ Pray that America will wake up to the tragedy of children being killed through abortion every day in this nation.”

Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, also denounced the billboards, calling them “sick and wrong.”

“An abortion business is trying to normalize the killing of preborn children with billboards that call abortion ‘sacred,’ life-saving,’ and ‘a blessing.’ Here’s an accurate slogan: ‘Abortion is the killing of a human life,'” she tweeted.

The billboard campaign comes just months after Planned Parenthood Black Community sparked outrage over its suggestion that for black women in America, “it’s statistically safer to have an abortion than to carry a pregnancy to term or give birth.”

“Disgusting,” wrote Antonia Okafor, political commentator and CEO and co-founder of the #emPOWERed movement. “To encourage ppl like me to end our future children’s lives instead of empowering us to grow healthy human beings. Vile.”

Americans remain divided on abortion. Some of the latest national survey data provided by Pew found that in 2017, some 57 percent of American adults believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 40 percent said that it should be illegal in all or in most cases.

Last year saw some significant pro-life victories, with activist group Operation Rescue reporting in December that 49 abortion clinics were closed in 2017, which is more than twice the number of clinics that were opened.

Operation Rescue argued that a major factor for these clinic closures is “a decreased demand for abortions.”

“There appears to be a correlation between clinics closing and a decrease in abortion numbers. According to the CDC, abortion numbers have been dropping steadily since 2005,” the group said.

“Some facilities have not been able to compete in an ever-shrinking abortion market and have been forced to downside or shut down. At the same time, when abortion facilities close, abortion numbers decrease even more.”

Christian Americans are not in a struggle against just Christianity vs. Secularism.

We are involved in a struggle of Good vs. Evil.

In 2003, Illinois State Senator Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm), spoke in front of his colleagues in defense of the infanticide known as Late-Term Abortion…

I just want to be clear because I think this was the source of the objections of the Medical Society. As I understand it, this puts the burden on the attending physician who has determined, since they were performing this procedure, that, in fact, this is a nonviable fetus; that if that fetus, or child – however way you want to describe it – is now outside the mother’s womb and the doctor continues to think that its nonviable but there’s, lets say, movement or some indication that, in fact, they’re not just out limp and dead, they would then have to call a second physician to monitor and check off and make sure that this is not a live child that could be saved. Is that correct?

While The Lightbringer was in the Illinois State Senate, he opposed a state version of the federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, a bill which would make sure that babies who survive abortions are given proper medical care.

This measure also protected babies who were “aborted” through a purposeful premature birth and left to die afterwards.

During Obama’s U.S. Senatorial Campaign in 2004, his opponent attacked him for supporting infanticide by voting against the above-mentioned bill. Obama responded by claiming that he had opposed the state bill because it lacked the neutrality clause found in the federal version.

The Chicago Tribune reported on October 4, 2004,

Obama said that had he been in the U.S. Senate two years ago, he would have voted for the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, even though he voted against a state version of the proposal.

During Obama’s 2008 run for President, he stood by those claims.

In March, 2008, during a Townhall Meeting in Western Pennsylvania, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) said,

Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.

Of course, Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States. When he was “radically changing” everything about our sacred land, blood was being spilled across the fruited plains. Especially, in that same state of Pennsylvania:

On February 18, 2010, the FBI raided the “Women’s Medical Society,” run by Dr. Kermit Gosnell, a butcher, euphemistically killing babies under the title of “Abortion Doctor”.

The FBI entered the office about 8:30 p.m. expecting to find to find evidence that it was illegally selling prescription drugs. What they found was America’s Auschwitz:

There was blood on the floor. A stench of urine filled the air. A flea-infested cat was wandering through the facility, and there were cat feces on the stairs. Semi-conscious women scheduled for abortions were moaning in the waiting room or the recovery room, where they sat on dirty recliners covered with blood-stained blankets. All the women had been sedated by unlicensed staff. They also found out that a patient had died there several months earlier.

Until 2009, Gosnell reportedly performed mostly first and second trimester abortions. But his clinic had come to develop a bad reputation, and could attract only women who couldn’t get an abortion elsewhere, former employees have said. “Steven Massof estimated that in 40 percent of the second-trimester abortions performed by Gosnell, the fetuses were beyond 24 weeks gestational age,” the grand jury states. “Latosha Lewis testified that Gosnell performed procedures over 24 weeks ‘too much to count,’ and ones up to 26 weeks ‘very often.’ …in the last few years, she testified, Gosnell increasingly saw out-of-state referrals, which were all second-trimester, or beyond. By these estimates, Gosnell performed at least four or five illegal abortions every week.”

On January 22, 2013, Obama said,

On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we reaffirm its historic commitment to protect the health and reproductive freedom of women across this country and stand by its guiding principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters, and women should be able to make their own choices about their bodies and their health care.

The Liberal mind is fascinating.  Sick and twisted…but, fascinating. On the one hand, Obama was saying that children are to be cherished and protected. I agree.

At, the same time, he stood by a woman’s right to kill her baby. I can hear the Liberals screeching right now.

That’s not a baby. It’s a fetus! It’s not the same thing! You chauvinist pig!

(Fetus is Latin for BABY)

If cherishing God’s gift of life makes me a “chauvinist pig”, you’re darned skippy I am! Yay, pigs! Sooey! That’s not a puppy growing in there, y’all.

The blatant hypocrisy that was shown by Obama, his loyal minions in Congress, and the MSM, the Liberal pundits on TV and Radio, and ignorant “seminar” callers and posters on Conservative websites, in defense of  “their rights “not to be punished with a baby” and their resounding silence regarding the American Auschwitz known as the Gosnell Case, was reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s…and positively chilling.

Remember a while back, when MSNBC Host, and resident Communist, Melissa Harris-Perry proclaimed,

…we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents, or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to whole communities. Once it’s everybody’s responsibility, and not just the household’s, then we start making better investments. (?)

Evidently, for Modern American Liberals, that only applies when the child is no longer a “punishment”.

Some good news regarding Americans’ Views on abortion can be found in a post from TheHill.com,  published less than one month before last year’s President Election…

The most recent Marist Poll from this summer shows that a 53% majority of Americans support a strong pro-life policy of limiting abortions only to cases of rape, incest, or medical emergencies. An overwhelming 78% supermajority support, at a minimum, limiting abortion only to the first three months of pregnancy. Sixty-two of Americans oppose forcing taxpayers to foot the bill for abortions.

In the case of “Abortion On Demand”, I believe that average Americans have recognized the obvious.

As President Ronald Reagan observed, all those decades ago,

I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

In Christmas’ Afterglow, Americans Continue to Chart Our Course to an Optimistic Future – A KJ Op Ed

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Where the exceptionalism of America lies…is not in the Halls of Power…nor in the Halls of Academia. But, rather in the courage and spirit of the average American. A courage and spirit, which our history proves, has driven American Citizens to build a nation, which is indeed exceptional among all others. – kingsjester, November 2, 2017

FoxNews.com reports that

President Donald Trump and members of his family wrapped up Christmas at their Mar-a-Lago club on Monday, while also spreading some holiday cheer by providing a feast to the various law enforcement and military service members protecting the first family during their visit. 
 
“I hope everyone is having a great Christmas, then tomorrow it’s back to work in order to Make America Great Again (which is happening faster than anyone anticipated)!” the president tweeted in the evening, after a day with his family.

Earlier on Christmas morning, the president and first lady Melania Trump released a video message, with Mrs. Trump saying “at this time of year, we see the best of American and the soul of the American people.” President Trump added his own remarks, calling on Americans to “renew the bonds of love and good will between our citizens —and most importantly we celebrate the miracle of Christmas.”

“For Christians we remember the story of Jesus, Mary and Joseph that began more than 2,000 years ago. As the book of Isaiah tells us, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. This good news is the greatest Christmas gift of all, the reason for our joy and the true source of our hope.”

His Monday remarks re-emphasized the Christmas comments he made on Sunday night, when he appeared to take credit for what he views as his successful role in making the holiday merry again.

“People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again,” the president tweeted on Christmas Eve. “I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”

Meanwhile, administration sources confirmed to Fox News that the president also provided and paid for hundreds of Christmas dinners served up to the U.S Secret Service agents and officers, military service members and Palm Beach County sheriff deputies who were working Christmas Day at Mar-a-Lago.

Described as a “Christmas feast,” served in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom, the buffet meal included a menu of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and dessert. The buffet was offered from the early afternoon into the evening, in an effort to cover two of the shifts for security personnel working the holiday.

Earlier in the morning, the first lady snapped a festive and widely circulated selfie on social media. Using a Snapchat filter, the image showed her wearing a Santa hat with illuminated, flying reindeer and the caption #MerryChristmas.

The president had on otherwise quiet official day on Monday.  He was briefed earlier in the day about a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed at least six people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

As I was spending time with my family on Christmas Day, I would peek in on some of the Facebook Political Pages which I frequent, along with Twitter.

Of course, it being Christmas Day, traffic was extraordinarily light, with very few posts and very few of the normal suspects commenting on them.

However, I did notice a very interesting, albeit sad phenomenon: The same Modern American Liberals who have been participating in a Never-ending National Temper Tantrum over the victory of Donald J. Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election of November 8th of last year, comprised the majority of political participants on the two forms of Social Media which I mentioned earlier.

At first, I wondered why that was. And then, a painful and sad realization came to me: these Far Left “Trolls” simply could not let go of their bitterness over Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the Presidential Election and the unmitigated, steamrolling success of President Trump’s first year in office.

Now, admittedly, a lot of those exposing their bitterness on Social Media yesterday were self-proclaimed Atheists, unwilling to acknowledge the birth of Jesus Christ, uninspired by that Glorious Night, and immovable from their self-imposed ignorance.

However, the rest of those bitter Liberals whom I observed yesterday have quite simply refused to be optimistic about America’s Future, even when all of the Economic and Societal Indicators, such as the increase in New Homes being built and Americans saying “Merry Christmas” point to a renewed spirit of optimism that is sweeping America.

Is President Donald J. Trump responsible for all of this?

Yes, he is to a certain extent.

However, so are WE. By “we”, I mean us average Americans who suffered under the “Tyranny of the Minority” for 8 long years under the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

The Traditional American Values which average Americans hold dear were laughed at, made fun of, devalued, and attacked in both the Main Stream and the New Media, during the previous Administration.

Values such as respect for our Municipal Police Officers and our Brightest and Best in our Armed Forces and, regardless of what Liberals claim, respect for Christianity, the faith of 75% of Americans and the right to say “Merry Christmas”, were all ridiculed and attacked unceasingly.

Make no mistake: what happened on November 8, 2016 was a backlash against the ill treatment of average Americans by a minority who had not only erroneously convinced themselves that they were “The Smartest People in the Room” but, that their “value system” was that of the majority of Americans.

With “The Queen of Mean’s” defeat on November 8th, they found out exactly how wrong they were.

And, they have been bitter ever since.

So, I say, let American Liberals continue to show their backsides to the world.

Remain of good cheer, Americans.

The future looks bright.

It’s great to have an AMERICAN PRESIDENT again.

And, together, we will make America great again!

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Christmas 2017: What a Difference “One Solitary Life” Can Make

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Last night, after my wife and I finished wrapping some more presents for our 10-year old grandson, we started looking for something to watch on TV and came upon Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”, the Holiday Classic starring Jimmy Stewart.

In the movie, Stewart plays the role of George Bailey, an average man whom, through a series of circumstances, finds himself living a life which he had never really envisioned himself leading. When dire circumstances arise, he contemplates killing himself, only to be stopped by an angel named Clarence, who shows him what his hometown would be like if he had never been born.

After viewing the difference which he had made in his sphere of influence, Stewart prays to the Lord to return him back to his family and his life.

The movie ends happily, with all the people whom he had helped over the years coming to his aid in his moment of crisis.

I had not sat down to watch this movie in quite a while and I found myself with tears in my eyes at the end of it.

It was then that I realized that God puts us where He wants us to be.

It is up to us to navigate around the pitfalls of life caused by our own Free Will by using the Gift of Discernment which we have been blessed with and by listening to that Still Small Voice which resides within each and every one of us.

Each and every one of us can make a difference within our own sphere of influence.

However, there remains only One who walked this Earth in human form who is still making a difference and whose birth we celebrate today.

Many stories have been written about Him.

On this Christmas Day, please allow me to present to you two of the best and the gentlemen who wrote them.

Dr. James Allan Francis was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. He became a pastor at age twenty-one and served in ministry for the remainder of his life. His first pastorate was in New York City at the Riverside Baptist Church, and after serving in other varied pastorates in the East, he came to Los Angeles in 1914.

Though he had a busy life as a pastor, Francis was able to publish a handful of books: Drops from a Living Fountain (1895), Christ’s Mould of Prayer (1924), and Christ is All And Other Sermons (1928). His publications are full of passionate encouragement for Christians to know their Lord, to rely on him, and to follow his example.

Francis’ most famous words, now known as “One Solitary Life,” originated as part of a sermon that he delivered on July 11, 1926 to the Baptist Young People’s Union at a Los Angeles Convention. A friend transcribed the message titled “Arise, Sir Knight,” and Dr. Francis published it that same year in a collection called The Real Jesus and Other Sermons.

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village as the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another obscure village.

He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty and then for three years was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never owned a home.

He never had a family.

He never went to college.

He never put his foot inside a big city.

He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born.

He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of his divine manhood.

While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him.

His friends ran away.

One of them denied him.

Another betrayed him.

He was turned over to his enemies.

He went through the mockery of a trial.

He was nailed upon the cross between two thieves.

His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying, and that was his coat.

When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today he is the center of the human race and the leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon the earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life.

In 1912, C.P.J. Mooney worked as  the editor for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN.  He wrote an editorial that has become a yearly tradition, not only in Memphis, but around the world.  Here it is, as my Christmas Gift to you, my much appreciated readers.

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’ 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.

Today, we celebrate the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ.

As you spend today with your family and friends, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our nation and those who are away from home, protecting you and me.

Please allow me to close with one of my favorite Christmas songs.

God bless us, everyone.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

Why President Trump Saying “Merry Christmas!” at the National Tree Lighting Was So Important – A KJ Sunday Morning Reflection

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Earlier this week, a very special moment occurred in our nation’s capital. An American President wished everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Needless to say, there was much Liberal hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth, and “concern” about the utterance of that phrase from President Trump.

ChristianPost.com reports that

President Donald Trump is receiving praise for sharing the Christmas story at the National Christmas Tree Lighting and Pageant of Peace ceremony at the White House on Thursday where he proclaimed that everyone is a “child of God.”

The event marks the Trump family’s first Christmas at the White House and as he promised during his presidential campaign, he did not shy away from wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas.” Furthermore, the 45th president of the United States also spoke about the nativity.

“The Christmas Story begins 2,000 years ago with a mother, a father, their baby son, and the most extraordinary gift of all — the gift of God’s love for all of humanity.

Whatever our beliefs, we know that the birth of Jesus Christ and the story of this incredible life forever changed the course of human history.

Each and every year at Christmas time we recognize that the real spirit of Christmas is not what we have, it’s about who we are, each one of us is a child of God. That is a true source of joy this time of year. That is what makes every Christmas merry.

Now as the president of the United States it’s my tremendous honor to finally wish America and the world a very Merry Christmas,” Trump said after he and first lady Melania Trump lit the Christmas tree.

His speech, met with cheers from the crowd, also received accolades from people who watched the ceremony on social media. After just a few hours on Facebook, the video was viewed more than 3 million times and garnered hundreds of thousands of likes and hearts.

President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Franklin Graham, likewise shared the video with his followers and urged all Christians to keep Trump in their prayers.

Donald Trump’s Boycott of Starbucks Over Red Cups; Starbucks Responds
“Never in my lifetime have we had a president willing to take a strong, outspoken stand for the Christian faith like President Donald J. Trump has. Whether you are Protestant, evangelical, Orthodox, Catholic — all Christians need to get behind him with our prayers,” Graham wrote on Facebook.

During his election campaign, Trump vowed to counter those who had declared war on Christmas by making the Christian season more secular and saying “Happy Holidays.”

In November 2015, the billionaire businessman even called for people to boycott Starbucks after it released its red holiday cups that were void of any mention of Christmas or symbolism.

“I wouldn’t buy. Hey look, I’m speaking against myself. I have one of the most successful Starbucks in Trump Tower,” Trump told a crowd of 10,200 during a rally in Springfield, Illinois.

“Maybe we should boycott Starbucks, I don’t know. Seriously,” he added. “I don’t care. By the way: That’s the end of that lease. … If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again. That I can tell you. That I can tell you!”

The Trumps are in fact sticking to a Christian Christmas. First Lady, Melania recently showcased her White House Christmas video clip showcasing this year’s theme of “Time-Honored Traditions” that was part of her efforts to “respect 200 years of holiday traditions.”

The winter wonderland display at the White House also features a Nativity in the East Room of the White House which has been part of the annual Christmas display for 50 years.

As America has witnessed during the first year of Donald J. Trump’s tenure as the 45th President of the United States of America, now, more than ever before in the history of America, there is a great divide between our two major Political Parties.

Well. I know y’all will be shocked, but, this Christian American Conservative has a different take on the schism between America’s two main Political Parties than the Secular Liberals in the Main Stream Media do.

And, it all comes down to keepin’ The Main Thing, The Main Thing.

How Americans greet one another during this glorious time of the year is a prime example.

Marist poll, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, says only 37 percent of Americans prefer “Happy Holidays,” compared to 57 percent who say they prefer “Merry Christmas.”

Further, 79% of Americans strongly or very strongly identify the birth of Jesus with the meaning of Christmas, added the survey of 1,005 adults residing in the continental United States.

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States of America. He said the following about our Country’s relationship to Christianity:

My hopes of a future life are all founded upon the Gospel of Christ and I cannot cavil or quibble away [evade or object to]. . . . the whole tenor of His conduct by which He sometimes positively asserted and at others countenances [permits] His disciples in asserting that He was God.6

The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the Divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made “bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” [Isaiah 52:10].7

In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

From adherents.com

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.

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%

unknown

43

 %

TOTAL

204

Christmas and Christianity have been a part of our national fabric since our Sovereign Nation was born. Here is what a couple of our more Modern Presidents said about Christmas in America:

Since returning home, I have been reading again in our family Bible some of the passages which foretold this night. . . . We miss the spirit of Christmas if we consider the Incarnation as an indistinct and doubtful, far-off event unrelated to our present problems. We miss the purport of Christ’s birth if we do not accept it as a living link which joins us together in spirit as children of the ever-living and true God. In love alone – the love of God and the love of man – will be found the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today. – President Harry S. Truman, Christmas Eve Address to the Nation, 1949

“Christmas is also a time to remember the treasures of our own history. We remember one Christmas in particular, 1776, our first year as a nation. The Revolutionary War had been going badly. But George Washington’s faith, courage, and leadership would turn the tide of history our way. On Christmas night he led a band of ragged soldiers across the Delaware River through driving snow to a victory that saved the cause of independence. It’s said that their route of march was stained by bloody footprints, but their spirit never faltered and their will could not be crushed. The image of George Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow is one of the most famous in American history. He personified a people who knew it was not enough to depend on their own courage and goodness; they must also seek help from God, their Father and Preserver.” (1983)

“For the past few years in this great house, I’ve thought of our first real Christmas as a nation. It was the dark and freezing Christmas of 1776, when General Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware. They and Providence gave our nation its first Christmas gift—a victory that brought us closer to liberty, the condition in which God meant man to flourish.” (1984) President Ronald Wilson Reagan

So, why do we celebrate this time of year? Is it the hustle and bustle? Is it the greed and avarice of the commercialization of a Secular Holiday?

It is to honor and celebrate

ONE SOLITARY LIFE

He was born in an obscure village, the son of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter’s shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he became a wandering preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of those things one usually associates with greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through a mockery of a trial. He was executed by the state. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

***The preceding essay was part of a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”).

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 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.

The Democratic Party, now under the control of the Far Left, have long since dismissed the reality of absolute morality, unchanging ethics, and the Sovereignty of the God of Abraham.

And, that is why the Silent Majority, comprised, to a great deal, of the over 70% of us average Americans, who proclaim Jesus Christ as our Personal Savior, rose up here in “Flyover Country” and went to the polls on November 8th, 2016 in protest of unconscionable relative morality and situational ethics, being pursued and propagated by the leaders of the Democratic Party, for Political Expediency’s sake.

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

So, as you finish your Christmas Shopping and other preparations in the weeks ahead, take time to wish someone else a “Merry Christmas”.

And, let your light shine.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Until He Comes,

KJ

Phil Robertson, America, and Me – A KJ Sunday Morning Reflection

PhilRobertsonCartoon

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)

A few years back, the Patriarch of the Mega-hit Television Program, “Duck Dynasty”, Phil Robertson sat down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, and, as per usual, Brother Phil told it like it was…

…HANNITY: So we got to win those political battles, too. I think they’re just as important.

ROBERTSON: Yes. I just feel a little more comfortable dealing in the spiritual realm, even with the persecution of whatever comes with it, I’m just — I have a task to do and I go forth across America. I’ve been doing this, most people don’t realize, I’ve been doing this for 35 years.

HANNITY: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: I’ve been all over the United States backwards and forwards, and my message is always the same, god loves you, sent Jesus to die for you.

HANNITY: When the controversy arose were you surprised?

ROBERTSON: Surprised, not at all. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you, when they insult you and reject your name as evil, Jesus said, because of the son of man. Leap for joy because great is your reward in heaven. It goes with the territory, spiritual warfare. There is a Satan out there, an evil one, and if anyone that looks at our culture doesn’t believe it, I would simply say, what, are you blind? It’s pretty rough out there.

HANNITY: I wrote a whole book “Deliver Us from Evil.”

ROBERTSON: Yep.

HANNITY: How do you explain Pol Pot and the killing fields, Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, fascism, communism, imperial.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: Evil.

HANNITY: And then how do you explain murder, and pedophilia, and rape – – evil.

ROBERTSON: Yes, yes.

HANNITY: See, when you use these spiritual terms some people get, you can’t say that.

ROBERTSON: We took the 10 commandments now and removing them from the courthouse and we’re getting them out of our psyche. We took God out of our schools. Well, if you started with young people and you taught them, you rebuke them, you corrected them, you trained them, you instructed them to obey their father and mother, honor their father and mother, don’t murder, don’t lie, don’t steal from a young age, is anyone trying to tell me that we wouldn’t have a better society? I mean, it’s nuts.

What causes somebody to “wig out”, or to have what psychiatrists call “a break with reality”? Is it caused by some genetic abnormality? Is it caused by socialization? Or, it Brother Phil right? Does the Devil make them do it?

In my present job, I get to talk to people from all walks of life. I am usually a pretty good judge of character. However, you never know…

Remember the mass murder that took place on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara, back in 2014? A psychopath named Elliot Rodger killed 6 people and wounded 13 others before turning his gun on himself.

According to the murderer, he was ignored by women and had problems getting a date.

Now, as someone who was a nerd who hung out with the jocks in high school, I can tell you that approaching girls as a nerd when you’re young man is a hard thing to do. You start to fear their rejection so badly, that it becomes a huge brick wall that keeps you from happiness. However, never in my wildest imagination would I have ever thought of hurting others because I couldn’t get a date.  I mean, its stupid if you think about it and very sad at the same time. The horror of it all is that he ended innocent lives because he was jealous of the lives of others.

Brother Phil was right about how widespread evil is in our society.

A while back, while I was pursuing one of my favorite activities, perusing Facebook to see what was going on, I was on one of my favorite political pages, of which I happen to be an moderator, when I noticed that an anonymous poster had posted an anti- American Armed Forces message just to get some attention. In fact, this guy was so far around the bend, that he posted that our military deserved to die because of the interventionism and nation-building foreign policy of the United States. When he became cornered and was asked to account factually for his comments on Facebook, this loon even suggested that the Japanese attacked the US Military at Pearl Harbor, because of things they had already done and they bore no ill will toward the American people.  When I asked him whose sons and daughters did he think that the US military consisted of, he went strangely silent.

Of course, this guy wound up getting banned from that Facebook Page. Then he came back under a phony profile, and got banned again.

We later found out that this troubled soul had been banned from several Facebook Pages for posting under phony names, posting incessantly, and threatening female posters.

By now. you’re probably asking, “So what do these two examples have to do with each other and with what Phil Robertson said to Sean Hannity?”

There is a reason that we don’t all go out killing another and there is also a reason why we’re not all fruitcakes who go around looking for attention, threatening people on Facebook.

Now you can call it genetics, you can call it socialization, you can call it the proper alignment of the moon and stars…I choose to call it the Grace of God.

There is a comforting old saying which states

There but for the Grace of God go I.

Our American Pop Culture, being incessantly marketed by Liberals, espouses and embraces a reflection of 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, 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 lead to America’s.

The galling thing is the fact that, even though American Christians remain 76% 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 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

The more we stand up for the Triune God, the harder the Enemy attacks…in all areas of our lives…including our political beliefs.

They expect Christian Americans to be “sacrificial lambs”, to meekly allow our Constitutional Rights to be stripped from us, remaining unseen and unheard from, and worshiping in private.

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

Our Lord and Savior stood up and got angry for Righteousness’ Sake. Do you seriously expect Christian Americans to do no less?

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 and I thank God that through His Grace that I was given a Father who made sure that I received loving instruction in The Way in which I should go.

Average Americans still believe that we live in the greatest country on the face of the earth, as was demonstrated on November 8, 2016.

That being said, 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