Tag: Jesus Christ

Of Politics and “Pharisees” [A KJ Sunday Morning Op Ed]

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

American Christianity 2A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. – Ecclesiastes 10:2

We have all known for sometime that this is not our fathers’ Democrat Party. Conservatives have been driven out and “Moderates” are an endangered species.

Today’s Democrats embrace a Far Left Poiltical Ideology, in which there is no room for a Supreme Being.

Don’t believe me? Remember what happened at the last Democratic National Convention?

Delegates and members of the Democratic party booed after former Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH) discussed God and moved to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles, had to ask for the Yea and Nay vote several times before declaring the motion passed.

C-SPAN cameras captured the dissatisfaction among members after the motion passed.

More information from the Associated Press:
Democrats have changed their convention platform to add a mention of God and declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

The move came after criticism from Republicans.

Many in the audience booed after the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, ruled that the amendments had been approved despite the fact that a large group of delegates objected.

He called for a vote three times before ruling.

The party reinstated language from the 2008 platform that said “we need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”

The platform also now includes what advisers said was Obama’s personal views on Jerusalem.

Now that we’ve established that, there seems to be a misconception among “the Smartest People in the Room”, American Liberals, about Christian American Conservatives.

American Liberals seem to believe that because we are strong in the Faith of Our Fathers, that we are somehow gullible or less intelligent than they are.

And, this hubris reaches all the way up to the White House.

When Obama was campaigning for the presidency, he appeared in April of 2008 at a fundraiser in Pennsylvania, where he talked about and made fun of all of us “ignorant” Conservative American Christians clinging to our Bibles and guns.

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

After Obama took office, he made a point of stating several times that America was not just a Christian nation anymore.

And, while that is true to a certain extent, it is also true that the overwhelming majority, 76% of Americans still proclaim themselves to be followers of Jesus Christ. And even beyond that, 92% of Americans still believe in God.

What is amazing to me, though, is how, during this administration, American Christianity has been attacked on all fronts:  militarily, culturally, 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 Liberals, 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.

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

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 do in our society.

If there’s one thing during the six and a half years of anti Christian bias, which we have experienced during the Obama administration, 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.

I believe Liberals react that way because internally, they are having a kicking and screaming temper tantrum, because they cannot get their way.

This week, on October 3rd, the movie “Left Behind” starring Nicolas Cage, premieres.

Based on the immensely popular novel series of the same name, the movie tells about the rapture, an event believed by Christians to happen before a horrible period , known as the Tribulation, in which Christians will be tortured and put to death, along with millions of people worldwide, as famine, pestilence, and war spread throughout the world.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.- 1 Thessalonians 4:17

This period will end with the glorious reappearance during which Jesus Christ will return to work and defeat the forces of evil.

I believe that this movie will do well at the box office and that Redbox will also profit well from it.

Lately, all Christian movies have done well. Recently, I and my bride rented the movie, “God is Not Dead”. We found it to be both well written and well-acted.

Thinking about America’s reaction to these Christian movies caused me to think about their reaction to Liberal-themed movies during the Bush administration, such as “Redacted”, which was a movie about the Iraq War which disparaged our Brightest and Best.

It bombed terribly because it did not reflect the feelings and values of the American public.

The point which I’ve been trying to make today is that this is still a majority Christian nation.

And, while God indeed, tells us to be meek, He also instructs us to be wise.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.- Matthew 10:16

That is the reason why Liberals have failed to convince the majority of Americans to foreswear our traditional American Faith and Values System and our Christianity.

And, it frustrates them when they realize that we continue to hold fast to our Traditional American Faith and Values.

What they don’t understand, is that we have read the back of the Book. We know how all this ends.

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.- Mathew 24:42-44

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity: Putting On The Full Armor Of God

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

American Christianity 2As I was scrolling through my Facebook Newsfeed yesterday afternoon, thinking about the events of the week, international, national, and personal, I saw several advertisements for the movie, “Left Behind”, starring Nicholas Cage, based on the popular Christian Novel Series, based on The Book of Revelation, which I have read in its entirety (both novels and scripture), and I started thinking about the Plan that the God of Abraham has for all of us, Believers and non-Believers, alike.

Internationally, as I write this, a Marine sits, neglected by our Administration, in a Mexican Jail, guilty of the horrendous crime of committing some sort of traffic violation.

Halfway around the world, in the Radical Muslim Rogue Nation of Iran, an American Pastor, jailed for preaching the Word of God, and refusing to worship a pedophile, sits languishing in horrible conditions, while his wife and children petition our leaders to get up off their duffs and bring him home.

In Iraq, Christians and innocent Muslims are being killed by barbarians, who have sworn to hoist their flag above our White House.

And, finally, this week, Congress voted to hand over to those who have sworn to kill us in the past, the means to do so now, by proclaiming them to be “Moderate” Muslims, sending them military weaponry, and trusting them to fight alongside us against ISIS/ISIL.

Nationally, America’s economy remains in the tank, with more and more Americans choosing to drop out of the work force, in disgust and humiliation. 37.2% of America’s Work Force, to be exact.

A lot of these “drop-outs” are Americans over 50, like myself, who are being intentionally ignored, because of our age, which seems to matter more than our business acumen and wealth of experience.

Meanwhile, the very fabric of our society is being torn asunder, through the dissipation of morality and the glorification of evil.

Satanists, Vampires, and Zombies…oh, my!

And, of course, legalizing marijuana has no consequences. So what if elementary school kids are being caught selling their parents stash? And, DUI accidents are up?

Yep. No consequences at all.

What we seem to be heading for is 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.

I have been attacked time and again, over the past 4 years, by non-Believers, who replied to my blogs insisting that Crosses and other Christian symbols have no place in the Public Square.

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?

13 It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. 14 In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. 15 Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. 16 Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” – John 2:13-22 (NLT)

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 six and one-half years, a propensity among those who have not been raised in a Christian home, to be boldly intolerant toward those who have….an intolerance shared by the individual who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

Americans’ Christian Faith, 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,commit “the Shining City on a Hill” to the same fate as every other empire and nation, which the God of abraham removed his Hand of Protection from.

As President Ronald Reagan said, 

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

So therefore, fellow Believers, it is time to take a stand for Righteousness’ Sake. To put on the “full armor of God” through the reading of His Word, through fellowship with other Believers, and most importantly, through a personal relationship, strengthened through an active prayer life, with the God of Our Fathers.

I leave you with a prayer written by America’s Pastor, the Reverend Billy Graham. May God Bless you all.

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

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity: “With This Ring I Promise…”

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, PoliticsLeave a comment

christian marriageFriday, my bride and I celebrated our Fifth Anniversary as husband and wife. To say that the God of Abraham has blessed me abundantly would be an understatement.

However, to say that we have not faced challenges during our life together, would be just plain silly.

Today, while we do not face the challenges to life and limb, which our ancestors faced in claiming this Sacred Land for theirs as Americans, now, more than ever, we face a changing society which has decided that “Traditional Marriage” should go the way of the dinosaur. And, the purveyors of America’s “popular culture” are using every method they can think of to make the dissolution of “one man plus one woman equals a marriage” happen.

For example, while watching one of our favorite shows on the USA Network the other night, “Royal Pains”, concerning a Concierge Doctor who treats wealthy patients in the Hamptons Resort Area in New York, I saw a commercial for a new show they will be premiering on the network.

Variety.com has the story:

The storyline of USA’s new drama “Satisfaction” sounds compelling: Upon discovering his wife is seeing a male escort, her husband tests the occupation as well. But the NBCUniversal-owned network will rely on much more than the program’s premise to garner viewer attention.

USA hopes to create, in a sense, a series of “trending topics” around the show, and will partner will unconventional media outlets like Vice and the HowAboutWe dating site to stir up chatter and debate around some of the issues that stand at the center of the new series.

“We have to be smarter about how we create intrigue and the desire to sample,”said Alexandra Shapiro, USA’s executive vice president of marketing and digital.

USA has commissioned a three-part docu-series with Vice, the rebellious journalism outfit that is not shy about putting its video to work for sponsors. In the series, real people will talk about how technology has changed the pursuit of romance and how the definition of commitment is changing. The series will premiere on Vice’s web site as well as on USA’s, with a new webisode set to launch with each of the first three weeks of the series. “Satisfaction” debuts Thursday, July 17 at 10 p.m. eastern on USA.

USA will in the same time span roll out a series of advertorials on dating site HowAboutWe that will tackle topics around the idea of modern love. USA will set up screening premieres with the site in Chicago, San Francisco and New York, each featuring a panel opining on the subject of modern relationships.

In addition, the network has placed billboards and ad signs in certain cities that aim to stir conversation around taboo subjects such as “Is Monogamy Realistic?”and “Is There Such A Thing As Happily Ever After?”

While USA will still run traditional promos for the new series, Shapiro cautioned that relying solely on old-school methods to try to get millions of potential viewers to tune in would be foolish.

“You want to be able to give as many people as many entry points into your franchise as possible and that’s what we are trying to do,” she said. “People are consuming media on so many platforms that if you just rely on traditional media, you are missing out on a huge population that does not consumer content in that way anymore.”

“Satisfaction” itself represents something of a break with tradition at USA. It is not a procedural drama along the lines of such popular USA fare as “Covert Affairs,” “Burn Notice” or “In Plain Sight.” And its themes are decidedly edgier and darker than previous series that embodied a sort of “blue sky” sensibility and embraced optimism and humor.

I am not naive. Far from it. For the past couple of decades, television programing has been a harbinger of American Popular Culture, providing us with programs such as “Will and Grace”, “Modern Family”, and the recently-cancelled “Two and A Half Men”.

Have you heard the expression the “one-eyed monster”? Yep. Our indoctrination by the Progressives has taken  place through our wide-screen televisions every evening and on the weekends.

However, it’s not just sexual immortality that we are being bombarded with on a daily basis. It’s the acceptance of situational ethics and sexual immorality, as well.

There is a lot of pressure being put on traditional marriage nowadays. Not just from popular culture, but from the United States Government, as well, through their support of the changing of the definition of a word that has meant one thing since Genesis.

Back on June 16th, Former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, even attempted to persuade a Catholic Bishop not to march in a parade supporting “Traditional Marriage”.

Can you imagine?

Traditional Marriage remains the Bedrock of our society. Without a man and a woman creating and raising children in “the way in which they should go”, a society quickly crumbles.

Thankfully, the majority of Americans still feel this way. Otherwise, why would the Obama Administration and the small vocal minority of Homosexual Marriage Supports be forced to rely on “Push Polls, political pressure, and judicial activism to overturn the decisions reached through popular vote in state after state?

Thomas Jefferson, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Third President of the United States, said…

Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises, being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life, and in the moment of death.

So, how did we get to where we are?

Today 76% of Americans still believe that Jesus Christ is their personal Savior. You wouldn’t know that fact from exposure to our American Media, nor from following the anti-Christian actions of our present Administration.

The problem is….man is a fallen creature. There was only one Perfect Man. We all fall short of the Glory of God.

There will be no escape for America from this downward spiral we find ourselves in, without Revival in the Land.

Just as addicts, going through the 12-step program, are told to reach out for spiritual help, so should we, as a sovereign nation, bought with the sweat and blood of our fallen, who fought for an ideal much greater than themselves, so that this Blessed Land, UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, should not perish from the face of God’s green Earth, seek the help of the God of our Fathers, to reclaim The Promise that is America.

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.- Ronald Reagan

And, just as Our Creator gave us our Sacred Land, so did he give us the Sacred Bond of Marriage.

I know, as surely as I am sitting here, breathing in and out, that our marriage would not still be intact through all the challenges we have faced, and are currently facing together, if it were not for God’s Love, Grace, and Providence.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 reminds us that

And if one prevail against him (Satan), two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

And, what God has joined together, let no man (or woman) tear asunder.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Is America Trapped in a Battle Between the Darkness and the Light? You Betcha.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments
American Christianity 2If you, like myself , are a Political Junkie, and spend any time at all on Internet Political Website comments sections and political chat boards, you might think that American Christians are an endangered species.
Far from it.
According to a Gallup Poll taken in 2013, 76% of Americans still identify themselves as Christians.
In other words, over 3/4ths of our country still believe that Jesus Christ is their Personal Savior.
So, if Americans believe in the Son of God, do that mean that they believe in the Fallen Angel, formerly known as Lucifer?
You betcha.
 September of 2013, YouGov.com conducted a poll which showed that almost six in ten Americans believe that Satan is real, and more than half of Americans believe that people can be possessed by demons.
Demonic Possession? Really? In America?
Yes, really. And, according to a Former New York City Cop turned demonologist, demonic possession is on the rise.
TheBlaze.com has the story…
Despite always believing in the existence of good, evil and God, ex-New York Police Department sergeant Ralph Sarchie didn’t consider himself a particularly religious guy — that is, until he began battling what he says are dangerous, supernatural forces.Sarchie, a self-described demonologist who was once a cop for the 46th police precinct in New York City — and the inspiration for the new Hollywood film “Deliver Us From Evil” — told TheBlaze that he believes possessions and infestations are on the rise.

“It’s definitely on the rise. I hate to say it,” Sarchie said in an interview. “As society pushes God out, no one can deny that that’s happening. There’s a good portion of society that just cannot stomach Jesus Christ and when I see that, I have to wonder where that hatred comes from.”

Of the many exorcisms he has participated in and assisted with, Sarchie — who became an independent part-time paranormal investigator while working with the NYPD — said the most terrifying thing he has seen occurred when he placed a crucifix next to a supposedly possessed individual’s head.

“We had a couple of relics in the church that day and mine was on the right side of this person’s head near the ear area … I usually stand in front,” he said. “I could see the eyes — that one eye looking over at the crucifix, but not turning the head. The head was like a statue … the eyes were going back and forth and that was a frightening thing to see.”

Sarchie described the person as looking like a trapped animal who was scared but still very much a volatile predator attempting an escape.

“I’ve been a cop for a long time. I dealt with a lot of emotionally disturbed persons [and] I’ve arrested some pretty bad people and I have never, never in my life in the street seen anything like that,” he said. “A murderer’s look from a person is nothing like a person who is under possession.”

As for his work — a career that is certainly unconventional — the former cop broke his professional life down in simple terms.“Demonology is the study of demons. It’s like all your all other ‘ologies,’” Sarchie said. “I approach it from a religious point of view.”

While he wasn’t always the strong Roman Catholic he is today, Sarchie said that he realized that battling the forces of evil meant securing a good relationship with God.

“If I was going to get involved in battling the devil, I needed to get a strong religion,” he said. “I pray every day — I pray my rosary every day and I pray to God every day that what I’m doing in this life is pleasing to him. I can only do what I know he wants me to do.”

Sarchie recalled how he became involved in demonology: After getting married and having his first daughter, he connected with Ed and Lorraine Warren, real-life paranormal investigators who were depicted in last year’s horror flick “The Conjuring.”

“I became one of their students and I started to go out on cases with [the Warrens],” Sarchie told TheBlaze.

He described the signs of possession, including unnatural strength, speaking in different languages, having knowledge of events that one would have no way of knowing, a woman speaking in a man’s voice and a person making animal sounds.

Additionally, Sarchie, who said only ordained clergy should perform exorcisms, explained that possessed individuals oftentimes know information about the past sins of exorcists and assistants.

Despite making a name for himself as a prominent demonologist, Sarchie said he has never accepted a penny for his assistance, always offering his services free of charge. In fact, he said, cases often cost him money, as he must fund his own travel expenses to various localities.

The former cop says he knows there are many who doubt his claims, but he told TheBlaze he doesn’t pay them any mind.

“I get word of all these skeptics out there and some of them are getting real nasty,” he said. “I’m not interested in what they say, I’m not interested in what they think about me. I don’t care.”

Almost 70 years ago, a great American saw a moral and cultural decline beginning in our “Shining City on a Hill…and he knew exactly who was behind it.

This speech was broadcast by legendary ABC Radio commentator Paul Harvey on April 3, 1965:

If I were the Devil . . . I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would of course, want to engulf the whole earth in darkness. I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, so I should set about however necessary to take over the United States. I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.” “Do as you please.” To the young, I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.” I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is “square”. In the ears of the young marrieds, I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you. I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, in moral conduct. And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington” . . .

If I were the devil, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull an uninteresting. I’d threaten T.V. with dirtier movies and vice versa. And then, if I were the devil, I’d get organized. I’d infiltrate unions and urge more loafing and less work, because idle hands usually work for me. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. And I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions . . . let those run wild. I would designate an atheist to front for me before the highest courts in the land and I would get preachers to say “she’s right.” With flattery and promises of power, I could get the courts to rule what I construe as against God and in favor of pornography, and thus, I would evict God from the courthouse, and then from the school house, and then from the houses of Congress and then, in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and I would deify science because that way men would become smart enough to create super weapons but not wise enough to control them.

If I were Satan, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg, and the symbol of Christmas, a bottle. If I were the devil, I would take from those who have and I would give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps. In other words, if I were Satan, I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing.

Paul Harvey, Good Day.

One of our Founding Fathers predicted the potential chaos which our Sovereign Nation would find ourselves in, if we ignored the laws and precepts of the One who gifted us with this Sacred Land.

John Adams, the second President of these United States, delivered the following message to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts on October 11, 1798:

Gentleman,

While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing desolation in so many parts of the world; while she continues sincere, and incapable of insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned us by Providence. But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another, and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation while it is practising iniquity and extravagance, and displays I have received from Major-General Hull and Brigadier, General Walker your unanimous address from Lexington, animated with a martial spirit, and expressed with a military dignity becoming your character and the memorable plains on which it was adopted. In the most captivating manner the charming pictures of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the World; because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

Were these two great Americans speaking about the situation we find our country in on July 6, 2014?

Are the Forces of Darkness at work in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?

Do you see it? Or, is it just me?

Until He Comes,

KJ

The War Against Christianity: Would I Be Willing to Die For Christ?

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics2 Comments

American FreedomI have written in the past that American Christians are fighting a war against an effort to undercut our faith, severely limiting our practice of it in everyday life.

With the present Administration spearheading the effort, Christian Americans are being marginalized , and our faith ridiculed and attacked as being against “diversity”, as the First Lady alluded to in her speech at a Topeka, Kansas Graduation Ceremony, which I wrote about yesterday.

As bad as things are getting in our country, Christians are not facing the choice of whether to renounce Jesus Christ as our Savior or die a martyr…yet.

On May 15th, in front of a judge in a Sudanese court, Meriam Yahia Ibrahim forthrightly declared that she was still, and always will be, a follower of Jesus Christ. The judge at the Public Order Court in El Haj Yousif Khartoum then confirmed her sentence of 100 lashes for adultery and death by hanging for apostasy.

Ibrahim told the judge after a Muslim scholar spent 40 minutes persuading her to recant,

I am a Christian, and I have never been a Muslim.

In response, the judge told her,

The court has sentenced you to be hanged till you are dead.

The sentence is to be carried out two years after her second child’s birth later this month.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that the death sentence in the case, which is drawing international attention, and called the ruling a “violation of the Sudanese Constitution and of international conventions to which Sudan is party.”

According to Middle East Concern, Ibrahim’s lawyer is appealing the ruling. Ibrahim’s American husband was also not permitted to witness the hearing, and has been denied visitation rights to see his wife and son while they are detained in prison.

Ahead of the hearing on the 15th, Amnesty International condemned Ibrahim’s death sentence and called for her immediate release. According to Manar Idriss, Amnesty International’s Sudan researcher:

The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion is abhorrent and should never be even considered. ‘Adultery’ and ‘apostasy’ are acts which should not be considered crimes at all, let alone meet the international standard of “most serious crimes” in relation to the death penalty. It is flagrant breach of international human rights law.

In July 2012, Saeed Abedini, an American pastor who is a dual Iranian-American citizen, went back to Iran to visit family and continue his work on a government approved orphanage. While in that  Radical Islamic county, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps placed Saeed under house arrest without charge. He was then sent to Evin Prison in September 2012.

In January, Saeed was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was charged with preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Saeed is not guilty of breaking any Iranian law. However, he was convicted of endangering national security because of gathering with other believers in private homes.

While in prison, Saeed has suffered internal bleeding from beatings and endured solitary confinement in an effort to make him recant his faith.

Although he has been denied medical attention, Saeed’s faith remains as strong as ever, as he has led 30 people to Christ while in prison.

Saeed’s family in Iran gets to visit him once a week at Evin Prison. His beloved wife, Naghmeh, and their children have not seen Saeed in over a year. During his most recent time in solitary confinement, Saeed said he felt many people praying and the time in solitary was a time of intimacy with God. When he came out, the other prisoners said he was glowing. In fact, Saeed said he was filled with more joy and peace after solitary than going in.

In a letter to Naghmeh, Saeed shared how he has hope despite the daily beatings he endures.

I heard that the persecution, my arrest and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from different cities and countries that would never come together because of their differences. That the churches have united together in prayer to put one request (my freedom) on one day (Pentecost) before God. You don’t know how happy I was in the Lord and rejoiced knowing that in my chains the body of Christ has chained together and is brought to action and prayer.

Would I be willing to die for my Savior?

Believe it or not, I have actually been asked that question by other Americans before by non-believers, both young and old, who could not fathom a faith comprised of unconditional love, supplied by a Triune God, who accepts his imperfect children, just as we are, without one plea. Bring a Love that will not let me go, no matter how many times I stumble, no matter how many times I fall, He always picks me back up, and helps me to continue to walk in faith, hope, and love. But, the greatest of these is love.

There is a “libertarian” (actually, a Liberal) who makes fun of believers on a Conservative Facebook Page I post on, by posting the words, “Onward Christian Soldiers”, attempting to point out Christian Hypocrisy…or something.

This “self-proclaimed genius” evidently has neglected to read the lyrics of this great old hymn…

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see his banners go!
Refrain:
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.

2. At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
on then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.
(Refrain)

3. Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
one in hope and doctrine, one in charity.
(Refrain)

4. Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
but the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail;
we have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.
(Refrain)

5. Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King,
this through countless ages men and angels sing.
(Refrain)

I pray that God will open this unbeliever’s eyes one day. However, until He does, this unbeliever and his fellow travelers will be oblivious to the fact that the war Christians fight is not against flesh and blood, but instead against “Princes and Principalities”.

And, to answer the question I raised earlier….

Yes. 

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

May God continue to the strengthen these two brave Christians and may He continue to hold them and  their loved ones in the Hollow of His Hand.

Until He Comes,

KJ

My 1,500th Blog: To God Be the Glory. To Liberals, the Shame

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

Christian America Fish LogoI began writing my own Blog in April of 2010, after being a contributor on other Conservative Blogs and Facebook Pages.

I started writing as a way to share my Faith, my love for my country, and to vent ( because after all, punching holes in the wall is expensive…and painful).

Every now and then, I am asked what I believe.  So, on the occasion of this milestone, I’m asking you to gather ’round ol’ Uncle KJ, boys and girls, as I lay it on the line, and write from my heart…as usual.

FIRST THINGS FIRST…

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;*
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead… – The Apostles Creed

I believe that there is no way to the Father, except through His Son, and the most important possession you can have in this life, is a Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Our Redeemer.

Grace, Forgiveness, and Redemption are available to everyone. However, it is up to you to ask for them.

I BELIEVE THAT AMERICA IS  STILL THAT “SHINING CITY ON A HILL”.

When our Founding Fathers made their treacherous journey to an unknown land full of danger, they sacrificed their homes, their wealth, and their prestige, in order to be able to worship God in the way they chose.

And, when the King of England decided to tax these brave men and women, who had sacrificed all to build a better life for themselves, in a punitive and unbearable manner, to the point of poverty, they decided that it was time to fight this tyranny, no matter what the cost.

So, to each other, they pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their Sacred Honor”.

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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…

And, thus began the Greatest Country on the Face of the Earth.

Yes, there have been mistakes made. Yes, there have been “growing pains”.  However, what makes the difference between us and other countries, is the fact that we remain a nation of exceptional people.

What is it that makes Americans exceptional? Is it simply a matter of the blessing of an American Birth?

No, if that were the case, you could consider the Communist Slackers of the OWS movement or other self-centered Mom’s Basement Dwellers, “exceptional”.  No, it’s way more than the privilege of being born a nephew of our Uncle Sam.

What has separated our nation from all others is THE AMERICAN SPIRIT…a spirit comprised of FAITH, COURAGE, SACRIFICE, CHARITY, AND INGENUITY.

While others have RUN AWAY, Americans have always RUN TO.

Why is that?

As my Brother-in-Christ Johnny McDonald once wrote, “Liberty is Freedom…with Responsibility”.

Ronald Reagan said,

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Was Ronaldus Magnus speaking about our Freedom as a nation? Or, the freedom of the individual?

The answer is “Yes. Both.”

President Reagan knew how fragile this precious thing called Freedom is. So did Dr. Benjamin Franklin.

Dr. Franklin, along with our other Founding Fathers, pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor in pursuit of it.

When he made that now-famous quote to Mrs. Powel, he was expressing his worry that seceding generations, having attained their freedom so easily, might grow lackadaisical and so spoiled by it, that they would squander it through self-indulgence. Franklin was, in fact, so leery of losing this new republic, that he said,

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

He was afraid that Americans would rely and trust those in power over them to the extent that they would surrender their freedom to them.

And, that brings me to my third belief:

I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THE INDIVIDUAL.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. – Phillippians 14:3 – NKJV

Our American Freedom allows us to be whatever we want to be, in this life. All it takes it perspiration, strength of will, and God’s Blessings.

And, that is why Liberalism/Progressiveness/Marxism fails.

Like any tyranny, they sublimate the power of the individual for the good (i.e., avarice and political ambitions) of the Collective (mindless sheep, kept in economic and ideological slavery, by an all-powerful Central Government).

The strength and vitality of America does not come from the benevolence of a Nanny-state Federal Government.

As the greatest American President of our lifetime, Ronald Reagan said:

The nine words you never want to hear are:  I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.

Being enslaved to the Government Dole steals one’s ambition.  It takes away any impetus or desire to create a better life for yourself and your family, to challenge yourself to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and pursue the American Dream.  It makes you reliant on a politically-motivated spider’s web full of government bureaucrats who view you and your family as job security.

While working at the County Jobs Center, I watched American citizens trapped in this web of government bureaucracy,  so numbed of any initiative that they once had, that they seemed offended that they actually had to prove that they inquired about three jobs that week in order to keep their “benefits”.  Others seemed puzzled that they had to search through the state data base and pick out a job that they wanted to talk to an interviewer about receiving a referral to, and weren’t just simply handed a job when they walked through the door.

Reliance on an out-of-control, ever-expanding Central Government, who controls every moment of a citizen’s everyday life, limits the potential of the individual.

And, for that reason, especially, Liberals should be ashamed.

I look at my own life, and I thank God that I was blessed by Him to be born an American.

If you would have told me as a child/teenager, during one of the many times that I was laying under an Oxygen Tent in St. Joseph Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, that God would give me the opportunity to sing to His Glory for 30 years, from Centenary United Methodist Church on McLemore Avenue in Downtown Memphis to a Baptist Church in Stratford-on-Avon, England, in between wheezing, I would have told you that you were a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal.

If you would have told me that, in my professional life, I would have had the to work with Americans from all walks of life, from the Surgeon General of the United States, to world-renowned physicians, to cotton farmers on the Mississippi Delta, I would have said, “Who…me?”

And, if you would have told me that I would write 1,500 Blogs, which have been read by people in countries all over the world, and that something I wrote would be read daily via e-mail by approximately 300 Americans , including United States Senators and Congresspeople, I would have told you, “NO WAY!”.

However, Gentle Readers,

WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

May God Bless each and every one of you.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

He is Risen!

On By kingsjesterIn ChristianityLeave a comment

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.

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

As you read this post today:

33% of the world’s population are  Christian.

The top 3 countries with the largest national Christian populations are :

USA – 224,457,000 (85%)

Brazil – 139,000,000 (93%)

Mexico – 86,120,000 (99%)

There are approximately 38,000 Christian denominations in the world. This statistic takes into consideration cultural distinctions of denominations in different countries.

Today, in the United States of America, about 78% (244, 140,000) of adults identify themselves as Christian. In comparison, the next largest religions in America are Islam and Judaism. Combined they represent only about one to two percent of the United States population.

There are more than 1500 different Christian faith groups in America.

All this and more, because of the sacrifice of the Son of God.
Within the editorial, Jesus, the Perfect Man, published on Christmas Day 1912, C.P.J. Mooney, Editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, wrote the following excerpt:

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.

In this time in this nation, our faith as Christian Americans has been under attack as never before. Remember, that our fight is against “princes and principalities”.  And…

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

He is risen indeed!

Until He Comes,

KJ

America: The Day Before Resurrection Day 2014…the Darkness Before the Dawn

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

American FreedomThis morning, as I lay in bed, having spent the night alone, due to my bride going on an overnight trip with a friend and her two nieces, The Lord, as He usually does, had me thinking about Him.These thoughts were about what today, the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Day, 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…]

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 in the darkness before the dawn.

Our American culture is crumbling before our very eyes, as sin, depravity, and personal irresponsibility are being 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  His Holy Word to 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.

However, there is still HOPE FOR OUR NATION.

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 day before Resurrection Day 2014 is

DO NOT GIVE UP ON GOD. DON’T 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

 

 

A Sunday Morning Reflection on God, Family, and Country

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics1 Comment

nationaldayofprayerAs I sit here on an American Sunday morning, my bride sound asleep, here in the quiet of my stately mansion, presently, a bottom floor two-bedroom apartment on a golf course, I find myself thinking about my niece by marriage:  a 43 year old Christian Wife, Mother, and Prayer Warrior, whose memorial service I held onto my grieving wife through, on Friday Morning, after my niece lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday morning.

It’s not that we were grieving for her, we were grieving for ourselves, who must carry on without her and for her devoted husband and 3 teenagers, whom she left behind.

You see, all the attendees in that small NW Mississippi sanctuary, knew where she was. She was in the presence our Savior, Jesus Christ.

That got me to thinking, in the past couple of days since, about those individuals whom I run into, both in “real life”. and on the Internet Chat Boards, who constantly want to deny our nation’s Christian Heritage, and who vainly continue to wage a cultural war against Someone Whom they claim not to believe in, in the first place.

I recall an attack I received from a Liberal, who was hanging out on Senator Ted Cruz’s Facebook Page, simply to contribute to the massive effort, by Liberals and the Republican Establishment, to “Palinize” Cruz, a straight-talking Conservative Leader.

This Liberal, or, “Troll”, as one who engages in what he was doing on the Internet  is called, posted numerous quotes, from Thomas Jefferson, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and anybody else he could think of, in an attempt to prove that America was not founded by Christians, and that our Country’s Founding Documents were not based on Judeo-Christian Principles, so, therefore, Christian Principles  have no place in the governance of the United States of America.

Catching flack for sticking to my Christian American Conservative Principles in nothing new for me.

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

Their reaction has hardly been unexpected.

Of course, those Liberals and Atheists who responded, over the years, immediately denied 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.

One of the first reactions to my posts, by the Liberal/Atheist responders continued to deny Jefferson’s Christianity.

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.

Finally, the Eight Per Centers who replied to my blogs insisted 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.

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….starting with the individual who sits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

Americans’ Christian Faith, of which 78% 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”.

As President Ronald Reagan said, 

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

As for my niece, I will always love her…and I will see her again.

I thank God for His Blessed Assurance, through his Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Sunday Morning Thoughts From a Christian American Conservative….And When It’s All Been Said and When It’s All Been Done…

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

Christ on a park benchBlessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This morning, as I am writing this, I am dictating into my android phone and thinking about my own mortality.

You see, I’m 55 years old. Nowadays, that is considered to be middle aged, I know. However, the fact of the matter is as I’m getting older I’m realizing that life is unpredictable. As I sit here, one of my family members by marriage is losing her battle with cancer.

She is a wonderful young woman, who will be leaving behind three teenagers, a boy and two girls, and a husband who worships the ground she walks on.  They are wonderful Christian people who, before we were married, asked my wife to come live with them, as she took in this young lady, her niece, to live with her years before.

This remarkable young lady was active in her church, sang on the praise team, home schooled her children, and kept the books for her husband’s business.

To say that the effect of her loss on her family will be hard, would be an understatement.

The thing is, just as sure as I’m sitting here, I know where she’s going.

Soon, she will be face to face with the Savior.

There will be no pain…no fear. She will be surrounded by Heavenly Glory, safe in His arms.

But, what about the family? It will be up to those of us left behind to comfort them and assure them that God loves them and we do too.

Of course, everyone has heard that God does not give us more than we can handle. Another member of my wife’s family, her 50 year old cousin said exactly that this week, after losing a leg to poor circulation.

She then proceeded to ask the poor young technician, who came to her room to tell her about her prosthetic leg that they were going to fit her with, if they were going to give her a “sexy” leg to match the other one.

God has gifted her with a indomitable spirit and a determination to go on living.

And, I guess that’s why I’m writing this blog this morning.

God gave us this life. He guides us through it. He presents with opportunities and gives us free will to make choices, right or wrong.

There are so many times I’ve seen Him move in my life .. so many times that he has made a way for me… so many times that He has shown His Gracious Love for me.

I know that I’m not the only person that feels this way. if you look back now and you’re around my age, you realize what I am trying to say this morning.

God wants us to be happy. God wants us to live and enjoy the life which is given to us

He wants the best for us. He also wants us to take advantage of the opportunities which He presents to us throughout our life, so that when we stand before Him, we can hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

But what does that mean? does it mean we have to live a life locked away in a monastery somewhere away from the temptations of the modern culture around us? Of course not.

However, we have to keep the main thing the main thing. We cannot sacrifice of Christianity for the sake of political expediency. Heaven is a far bigger tent than any political party could ever be.

I would rather find favor with God than favor with man.

Am I an extremist? You betcha.

God said it. I believe it. That settles it.

For in the end, like the popular Christian song from a few years ago, says,

And, when it’s all been said and when it’s all been done, He’ll ask me, ‘Did you find your way, child? Did you know my son?’ And, when it’s all been said and when it’s all been done, He’ll ask me, ‘Did you find your way within, my son’?

Perfect submission, all is at rest,

I in my Savior am happy and blest,

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long;

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.