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Legislating Morality: A Christian Duty

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I’m going to do something a little different in today’s Monday Morning Blog. I want to share an article about a very important duty for Christians: taking a stand for morality in the public square. That means advocating and voting for moral laws while opposing immoral laws. Morality is NOT subjective to the individual. Morality is absolutely and unquestionably defined by the Bible not the government or a person.

Today, we’re watching rampant immorality in the streets of every city often displayed by acts of violence most notably lately by young children. What kind of moral upbringing did these thugs get in their homes if any?! Yes, we can blame it on the parents, but we can also blame it on the church. When’s the last time your pastor talked about the blatant immorality in our culture today, often being re-enforced by immoral laws?

Maybe you’re one of those people who say you don’t bother yourself with “political issues.” Well I’m going to challenge you. That kind of thinking is immoral. It’s exactly why we see random shootings escalating, violence against innocent people in the streets, and car jackings. Children groomed and indoctrinated in schools to irrationally and immorally think that they can do the impossible and change their gender. Sex trafficking of children in America is at the highest level in any country on our watch!

I’ve mentioned before that I pray every morning with Pastor Jack Hibbs on his daily Lift Scripture prayer time. What an amazing way to start the day. Several days ago, he pointed out something very interesting in Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word “citizenship” in the Greek in this passage is actually the word “politics.”

Yes, we are citizens of heaven and one way we should be living that out on earth is through our politics. You and I can each make a difference if we step out of our comfort zone and into our Christian citizenship persona.

Understanding Morals

“Understanding morals is crucial for our daily lives as Christians. Morals guide us on how to live in the way that pleases God. They help us discern right from wrong, ensuring that we uphold the values and standards outlined in the Bible. By understanding the essence of morals, we align our actions and decisions with God’s will for us. The Bible offers wisdom and guidance in moral living and serves as a compass for us, directing our paths as we navigate through life’s choices. When we seek to embody these morals, we reflect God’s character and promote goodness in the world around us.”

I could go on and on. We are becoming Sodom and Gomorrah in a country once known for its Judeo/Christian values and morals. Here is the article I wanted to share, “Why Legislate Morality?” that I received in an email from Kent DelHousaye, Director of Church Engagement for Idaho Family Policy Center. I hope you’ll ponder and pray about how it might apply to you and what you could do to be a changing force in your sphere of influence.

Friends,  
A common objection to the idea of promoting biblically sound public policy is that it’s not mission-critical or even worthwhile for Christians and churches to get involved in “legislating morality.” But is this objection accurate?

In short, NO. This kind of thinking is just wrong. There are actually seven reasons why we SHOULD care about “legislating morality.”

1. All legislation is moral. The only question is whose morality will be codified? There is always a moral agenda behind every piece of legislation, just as there are moral implications for every law that is adopted. The issue for us is simply whether we prefer a law that reflects a godly morality or worldly morality.

2. In a relativistic culture, accepted moral standards are determined by the laws that are passed, so the laws SERVE as the moral code of that society. If we want the ethical code of our society to be God-honoring, then we must seek to pass godly laws.

3. As Christians, moral neutrality is not an option for us. If we believe in the lordship of Christ over all things, then his lordship includes government and law. If government is God’s domain, then government and its laws must serve his purposes.

4. Since the church is a bulwark against evil, abstention from the political domain is not an option for us as it cedes the public square to ungodly leaders who co-opt it and use it for their own unfettered wicked purposes in the world.

5. Our political silence makes us complicit. Failing to speak up about evil and injustice in society undermines our credibility and our witness in the world. It implies that we are either indifferent to — or, even worse, on board with — whatever immoral laws are being passed.

6. Passing godly legislation is not in itself the solution to the wickedness of the human heart. However, moral conviction is often shaped by moral instruction. In other words, adopting laws which teach society to do the right things can often lead society to desire the right things.

7. Godly legislation is a form of evangelism. Passing God-honoring legislation glorifies God by putting his character and commands on public display for all to see who God is and how his kingdom works.

Bottom line, all legislation legislates some sort of morality—so whose morality are we legislating? Last but not least, watch this clip of IFPC President Blaine Conzatti on the Canon+ Man Rampant show responding to the question, “Can you legislate morality?” I highly recommend you give it a watch and a share!

Standing for morality,
Kent DelHousaye Director of Church Engagement

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. – Pr. 21:3

The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness. Pr. 15:9

Opening picture from the Idaho Family Policy Center article.

Please leave your comment here.

August 11, 2025
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Decoding Food Labels: What You Need to Know

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Last week, I wrote my Monday Morning Blog on The Truth About Processed Foods and Health Risks and many said you enjoyed having me share about nutrition so I’m going to follow it up with this article focusing on reading food labels to know what you’re putting in your and your family’s body. Unfortunately, you can’t trust that everything in the grocery store or even health-food stores is healthy. You also can’t trust the wording on the packages used as a marketing tool to actually trick you into thinking a food item is good for you. It’s deceptive and hopefully will become illegal with MAHA calling for truth in labeling.

I want to stress the importance of knowing what you’re putting into your body, which you expect to last a lifetime and isn’t replaceable. Just like paying close attention to what goes into fueling your car. If a product has ingredients incompatible with our brand of car, it destroys the operating mechanisms of the vehicle. The same is true with our physical bodies.

Always Read Food Labels

I saw on Facebook a man posting a picture of the ingredient list on his can of kidney beans and asking why it included sugar?! A great question. Good for him reading the label, but I’m sure he wishes he’d read it before he bought the beans.

The ideal is to eat fresh whenever possible and avoid boxed, canned, and processed foods. Shop primarily on the outside aisles of the store, avoiding the long center aisles where most of the processed food is located. You don’t always have time to make everything from scratch, so we’ll talk now about tips for label reading. Purposely, manufacturers make the printing on most labels so tiny you might need a magnifying glass, cheater glasses, or use the magnifying App on your phone so you can read the fine print. If the ingredient list is super long, probably best to put it back on the shelf and not in your shopping cart!

I read every label. If I don’t recognize an ingredient, I don’t buy the item. I avoid soy because of my breast cancer history. Some soy mimics estrogen in the body. The FDA has allowed the food industry to add soy indiscriminately to much of our food. “Soy lecithin” is one of the most ubiquitous additives in our food supply. It’s primarily an emulsifier found in everything from salad dressings to vitamins. The soy portion comes from soybean oil extracted from soybeans. You can avoid the brunt of soy lecithin by eliminating most processed foods, but read the labels.

Unfortunately, most labels are purposefully ambiguous. The FDA is supposedly making labels more user-friendly, but the food industry is protesting against the higher cost of making new labels. They spend trillions of advertising dollars marketing processed foods that have gone from 0 % to 70% of our diet in the last 100 years!

Did you know food companies hire lobbyists to push against printing scientific health information on food labels to red flag an ingredient like sugar that could be harmful to your health?! Food companies also know transparency makes it easier to identify what’s in our food. Even though by law they must list ingredients, they can still craftily use misleading language and terms and miniscule print on the outside packaging. The goal of food companies is to meet minimum FDA standards while still enticing you to buy their product.

Food companies care about sales not your scales! Profit not your health.

Following are some tips to help you make wise choices. You want to be a discerning shopper who spends money on food that’s actually nutritious and not potentially harmful to your body. Companies design packaging to be attractive and catch your attention to pick it up.

Before it goes into your basket, take a minute to carefully checkout the front and back labels. I once had someone say you should never need to read a label. I replied, “You should never buy a food item that you haven’t read the label!”

Front of Package Deception

1. Don’t be fooled by marketing subjective terms like “healthy,” “all natural,” “fat free,” “wholesome,” “sugar-free,” “no sugar added,” “light,” “low-calorie,” “fruit-flavored,” “keto-certified,” “low-carb or zero carb,”  “whole grains” or “multigrain.”

In the United States, some of these claims do involve standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which I’ll indicate. However, others have very little or no guidance surrounding their use or misuse.

  • “Natural foods” “all natural foods” “wholesome” are widely used in food labeling and marketing with a variety of vague definitions. The implication is they’re minimally processed foods that don’t contain manufactured ingredients, but the lack of standards in most jurisdictions makes the terms meaningless.
  • “No sugar added” or “sugar-free” doesn’t mean the ingredients don’t contain sugar, just that there’s no extra sugar added. 
  • “Light” has no specific regulated guidelines. “Low-calorie” has to have 40 or less calories than the regular food item.
  • “Fruit-flavored” doesn’t indicate real fruit, but an added fruity chemical. The FDA doesn’t specify how much “real fruit” must be in a product to tout “made with real fruit.”
  • Packaging can say “whole grains” or multi-grain” even if the product is primarily made with refined grains ground into flour. Check the ingredients on the back label.

I eat Keto and the most recent indiscriminate label on a product is “keto-certified” in an official looking emblem. An entrepreneurial third-party website charges companies for this “certification.” There are no legal or official keto or paleo certifiers! Other commonly used terms are “Keto-friendly” or “Paleo-approved,” but always read the label’s nutritional breakdown and ingredient list for verification.

“Low-carb or zero carb” has no FDA guidelines, so it can indiscriminately appear on any label. Keto eaters deduct fiber from natural carbs, but some products like “zero-carb” tortillas have added high fiber ingredients such as cellulose or wheat starch. That’s the deductible fiber, but other ingredients still have carbs! An example of “natural deductible fiber” would be fiber in fresh asparagus.

2. Don’t trust “organic” unless there’s a legally certified insignia on the package. The term “organic” has an established legal definition in many countries, including the United States, as well as an agreed upon international standard. “All natural” and “organic” are NOT interchangeable terms. In some countries, “all natural” is defined and enforced. In others, such as the United States, it has no meaning!

If the package states “organic ingredients,” read the label to be sure all ingredients are organic. All “organic” foods aren’t necessarily good for you—organic sugar is still sugar. Just because it’s organic doesn’t give it a free pass. It still has “wasted calories” with no nutritional value.

3. “Gluten-free” products must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten per the FDA to be on the label, so some producers of “gluten-free products” cannot by law use the term because they don’t meet the standard. However, even marshmallow packages now say “gluten-free,” but that doesn’t mean you should be eating marshmallows!

4. “Cholesterol-free” can still contain ingredients with cholesterol. “Zero trans-fat” can contain up to 0.5 grams per serving.

Always turn the package over and read the back information!

Package Back Label Information

Never buy a food item without reading the back label! Ignore the claims on the front of the package. The back is where by law they must give you the nutritional breakdown of the food item.

1. The nutritional breakdown of calories, fat, carbohydrates, sodium etc. is by serving size. Often it’s ½ cup. Who only eats a half cup of ice cream or cereal? If you eat 2 cups, you need to multiply the nutritional breakdown, including calories, by four! On crackers and chips the serving size is a number i.e. 10 chips. If you eat twenty chips, double all the nutritional facts listed.

2. Listed ingredients go from highest content to lowest. If water is the first ingredient, the product is mostly water. For example, a lemon drink that promotes “made with lemon” may list lemon juice as the last ingredient and water as the first ingredient. It’s water with a little lemon or it could even be lemon flavoring.

3. If you don’t recognize an ingredient, Google it on your phone. You don’t want to put an unknown into your body…do you? Chances are it’s a preservative to avoid.

4. “Added sugar” is listed in the nutrition facts and in the ingredients list. Even if it’s organic or raw . . . sugar, honey, or maple syrup is still sugar with calories. Natural occurring ingredient sugar is in the nutrition facts portion of the label.

5. Avoid anything with high fructose corn syrup. Especially check children’s snacks. I sent my husband on a mission of finding barbeque sauce without high fructose corn syrup. He read every label on the grocery store shelf. There was only one brand without it.

6. Check the sodium level and remember it’s per the label’s serving size.

7. Avoid saturated fat & trans fats and all “vegetable oil,” usually followed with a list of oils in parenthesis so they don’t commit to any specific oil. Vegetable oils are highly refined and unstable from exposure to chemicals in the refining process that strips them of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. They’re stored in body fat, which may lead to inflammation. Examples of bad vegetable oils are corn oil, canola or rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil.

You’ll find vegetable oil or vegetable shortening in fried foods, packaged baked goods, salty snacks, salad dressings, even coffee creamers (use half-and-half).

The best overall oil to use is Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. Also, avocado oil and refined coconut oil.

Here’s an example of deceptive marketing. The front of the Blue Diamond Gourmet Almonds package reads “Almonds with garlic, herb, & olive oil.” It even has a “certified NON GMO” emblem. That all sounds awesome! But the ingredients listed on the back are: “Almonds, vegetable oil (almond, canola, safflower and/or sunflower) sea salt, roasted garlic, spices (oregano, basil, rosemary) and the very LAST ingredient, extra-virgin olive oil! What a disappointment!

When buying nuts, the ingredients should only be the nut and maybe sea salt if they’re salted nuts. Nothing else! If other oils are listed, unless it’s olive oil, return the package to the shelf.

8. Look for added soy, which could be in the form of soybean oil or soy lecithin. No one needs the amount of soy added to our food. Today, most labels indicate if there’s soy.

9. Choose wild fish caught naturally, not farmed raised in tanks.

Buy Fresh, Be Healthy

When possible, buy fresh and avoid packaged, processed foods, then you don’t have to worry about labels unless you’re looking for organic. Then look for the legal certified organic emblem. Beware at farmer’s market. They may claim not to use pesticides, but you’re only taking their word for it. Whatever you’re buying, always check the dates for freshness.

It may take longer to shop at first, but soon you’ll know which foods to avoid. You may think buying organic is more expensive, but with all the products you aren’t buying, you’ll actually reduce your food bill and increase your health.

Comparing Two Labels

Can you tell which one I would recommend?

“Prego Roasted Garlic & Herb” even boasts on the back label “Gluten-Free.” Ingredients: Tomato puree (water tomato paste), Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Sugar, Dried Onions, contains less than 1 % of salt (but there’s still 470 mg sodium per ½ cup serving), Canola Oil, Diced Roasted Garlic, Spices, Citric Acid, Dried Garlic, Basil, Natural Flavoring. (Hmm what’s natural flavoring?)

“Rao’s Homemade All Natural, Premium Marinara” Ingredients: Italian Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Olive Oil, Onions, Salt, Garlic, Basil, Black Pepper, Oregano. (Their ingredients live up to “all natural” real food, but I doubt they made it at home LOL)

Happy shopping!

PS I may miss a few Mondays in August and September as we wind down summer, so don’t worry I’ll be back.

Please leave your comments here.

August 4, 2025
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The Truth About Processed Foods and Health Risks

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I’m going to deviate from my usual topics to talk about something this week that’s been a passion of mine long before the Trump Administration adopted the Make America Healthy Again platform by appointing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Recently, I was in Costco wearing my Make America Healthy Again hat when an employee and I kept passing each other in the aisles. He eventually approached me and said, “I’ve been thinking about your hat. When was America ever healthy?” He was in his thirties and I thought to myself he probably grew up eating fast food and processed foods so prevalent today. I responded, “I think when my grandmother made everything from scratch.” He nodded and agreed.

Then it hit me that I’m now a grandmother. Like many women today, I’ve worked all my adult life with little time for making homemade bread, spaghetti sauce, yummy bakery products, or raising chickens like my grandmother who stayed home and raised seven children. However, since my first career was as a Registered Dietitian, I’ve always tried to avoid processed foods, eat fresh organic, and read labels.

Processed and ready-made foods started becoming popular in the 1960’s when more moms went to work and were trying to get dinner on the table quickly for the family after a long workday. The FDA began approving many additives and preservatives that didn’t have any history of being tested for safety. Today, most of them are still being used with many more added and at the same time there’s been a dramatic increase in childhood obesity and diabetes, breast cancer even in young women, colon cancer, infertility, and chronic diseases in children and adults. Could it be that we’ve been a human experiment?

Processed foods are more convenient and less expensive than fresh, but at what price to our bodies that God designed to consume real whole food?! By definition, processed food has been altered from its natural state. Processed foods have been treated with additive chemicals to enhance color, flavor, and increase shelf life. They’re moneymakers for manufacturers who aren’t always willing to monitor themselves while their lobbyists have more control than scientists and doctors over what’s considered healthy for consumption by the FDA.

Until Now!

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is putting a spotlight on what Americans eat! He says, “Food is medicine and we’re poisoning ourselves and our children with ultra-processed foods. Studies show increased anxiety and depression related to food, not to mention obesity. By changing your diet, you can lose some of those diagnoses. People should be able to make their own informed choices.”

Eating healthy shouldn’t be political. There are no Democrat or Republican children.

WebMD Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Whyte, echoes the Secretary of HHS, “Food really is medicine,” he said. “It’s as powerful as a prescription drug. It impacts every system of your body . . . There’s so much food that we consume that’s processed and, even more concerning, ultra-processed . . . I’m concerned about how long some of these foods last. What’s in them that’s allowing them to stay in your pantry for a couple of years?””

You might pay a little bit more for clean food, but it’s a better choice than spending less for something that could cause expensive health issues later and might actually be poison!

America has 10,000 inflammation causing food additives that are illegal in other countries. Think about that! McDonald’s French fries in Europe have three ingredients; in the US they have 17 ingredients! That’s crazy!

Additives to Avoid!

  • Food Dyes

Red Dye No. 3, approved for use in foods since 1907, was banned from use in topical drugs and cosmetics in 1990 when the FDA determined that the dye causes cancer when eaten by animals. But it continued to be allowed in foods, supplements, and oral drugs until now, 35 years later!

Finally, it’s being exposed as potentially harmful and food manufacturers must remove this dye by January 2027 and from ingested drugs by January 2028. Some states are also banning Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2 and Green Dye. Hopefully, this will soon be nationwide, but you don’t need to wait until then. STOP buying foods with dyes NOW.

These dyes are commonly found in breakfast cereals, soft drinks, dairy products, candy, jellies, packaged pudding, Jell-O, even condiments and canned foods. I actually saw red dye added to meat, and I’m sure you’ve seen salmon with the sticker “color added.” It’s safe to assume that these dyes are on the ingredient lists for thousands of products.

Manufacturers use these dyes made out of crude oil because they’re cheap. Yet, they make some of the same products healthier for other countries, which ban dyes. For example, Fruit Loops are colored with carrot and beet juice in other countries, but Fruit Loops in America use six colored dyes and are currently at the top of the previous administration’s FDA’s food pyramid. There’s no fruit in Fruit Loops! That’s deceptive advertising, but there is about 12 grams of sugar in every serving. Food dyes are also tied to ADHD, cancer, learning disorders, and neurological issues.

  • Seed Oils

This is another area highlighted as damaging that sounds healthy, but they’re not. Recent research links seed oils to cellular changes in our bodies. A 2023 study found that people who consumed high amounts of seed oils, highly used in processed foods, showed a 23% increase in inflammatory markers compared to cooking fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil. Avoid these seed oils due to their industrial processing methods and unbalanced fatty acid profiles: canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, rice bran oil, vegetable oil.

  • Emulsifiers

Emulsifiers are food additives used to improve texture and extend shelf life. Researchers analyzed data from 92,000 adults over 7 years and found that certain emulsifiers significantly increased cancer risk. Mono & diglycerides of fatty acids (E471) found in processed and baked goods, margarine, and ice cream were linked to:

15% higher risk of overall cancer

24% higher risk of breast cancer

46% higher risk of prostate cancer

Other dangerous food additives added to enhance addicting flavor and texture are sodium nitrate, sodium phosphate, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, aspartame, caramel color, trans fats, monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, BHA, evaporated cane juice, modified food starch, guar gum, and carrageenan.

I want to talk about carrageenan specifically because I’m a 3x breast cancer survivor and recently diagnosed with microscopic colitis. Carrageenan (E407 & E407a) is used as a thickening agent in dairy alternatives and also found in deli meats and plant-based products. It’s linked to 32% higher risk of breast cancer and also linked to colitis and inflammation. I don’t eat those food products, but then I started doing more research and discovered that carrageenan is in many foods that you would never expect. For example: dairy whipping cream, canned whipping cream, cottage cheese, protein drinks, yogurt, Costco rotisserie chicken, packaged pulled pork, peanut butter, and so much more!

I was shocked, especially with the Costco chicken until I discovered that carrageenan gives chicken an appealing appearance making it look fuller, plumper, and more succulent…just like those chickens you grab from Costco and take home for a quick dinner.

When I started looking closely at the ingredient label from most cottage cheese brands, this long list of italicized additives is typical: Cultured nonfat milk, milk, whey, salt, cornstarch, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan, locust bean gum, guar gum, phosphate, monopotassium phosphate, cream, natural and artificial flavor. Compare those sixteen ingredients with “Daisy” brand’s three ingredients: Cultured skim milk, cream, salt. That’s all that should be in cottage cheese! Remember that they list ingredients in order from the highest to the least content.

While I was at Walmart buying cottage cheese, an elderly woman came up to buy a carton. As she picked up one of the brands, I asked if I could show her the difference in the ingredients. When she saw only three ingredients in Daisy brand compared to a long list in others, she said, “I can pay a dollar more for a healthier brand. Thank you for showing me this.”

Avoid processed, boxed, quick, just add water products, pre-packaged, and precooked meals. Shop at local farmer’s markets, do frozen if you can’t do fresh, but fresh is best. Be your own chef. Cook your own meals so you know what you’re eating. There’s no comparison between homemade like my grandmother used to make and prepackaged, but we’ve become accustomed to settling for less.

It does take a little longer shopping to read all the ingredients, especially when they intentionally make the print small. If there’s more than 5 ingredients, or an additive or ingredient you can’t pronounce, you probably shouldn’t buy that product anyway. The manufacturers are hoping you won’t bother to notice and just pick up the cheapest one.

 But once you’ve determined a healthy brand of foods you typically buy, you’ll be able to quickly select that one and avoid all the others. As the little lady at Walmart so wisely said, spending a little extra for a healthier food to save your health in the end is a bargain.

Food is the fuel that keeps your body running. Just like you wouldn’t put the wrong gas or oil into your car engine that you want to last a few years, be wise about the fuel you put into your own body that you hope will last you for ninety or one hundred years!

Mark Hyman, MD says, “Cancer is complex and multifactorial, but one thing is certain: the food we eat plays a massive role in shaping our long-term health. Cutting out ultra-processed foods and focusing on whole, nutrient-dense foods is one of the most powerful steps you can take to reduce disease risk.”

The Five Disappoints!

Occasionally, I watch The Five on FOX TV while I’m doing something in the kitchen. They were discussing Coca-Cola coming out with a new product replacing manufactured high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) with real sugar, as it already does in countries like Mexico and the UK. High Fructose corn syrup is made from cornstarch, not sugar and in the 1970’s it started being used because it’s cheaper and has a longer shelf life.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made phasing out HFCS a key part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, once calling it “poison” and criticizing it for fueling the nation’s obesity and diabetes crises. Research also shows HFCS may be more likely to promote fat buildup in the liver and contribute to insulin resistance because it contains a higher ratio of fructose to glucose than can sugar.

I’m not promoting drinking Coke nor eating sugar. I don’t have either in my house. But The Five panel was making light of this change by Coca-Cola as not being significant. Then they defended Fruit Loops saying Americans like what they’re used to even if it’s not healthy for you?! They also discounted Governors trying to get real food into children’s school lunches saying kids really only like snack foods and soft drinks.

I was shocked as I listened to them even ridicule the attempts of RFK Jr. to help Americans, especially our children, be introduced to foods that will make them healthier and not sicker. Then I thought back to why I gave up my career as a Registered Dietitian. It was such a thankless profession because just like The Five said, people like their sugar and foods they’ve become accustomed to, even if it’s killing them!

Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words. Is. 55:2-4 The Message

If you enjoyed this article, I’ll share more in an upcoming blog about Reading Labels.

Please leave your comments here.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

July 28, 2025
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God is Always Watching: The Importance of Integrity

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When I was a little girl, I can still hear my mother cautioning me to do the right thing even when she wasn’t around because, “God is always watching!”

When I speak and write on mentoring I often say that the people parents mentor the most, even if it’s not intentional, are their children. Are you the woman today you want your daughter to become? Are you the man you want your son to become? Do you have the marriage you want your children to have? Because even when you’re not thinking about it, little eyes are watching how you act, what you say, how generous you are.

As Christians, does your walk match your talk? Are you the same person during the week as you are on Sunday morning at church?

A big responsibility you say. Yes, being a parent is the biggest responsibility you’ll ever have in life, unless you’re also a Christian and then how you represent Christ will top all other responsibilities while influencing everything you do.

This past week, we’ve seen a number of breaches of integrity being revealed, some literally in the dark and some out in the open.

Let’s start first with Chip and Joanna Gaines who built a financial empire with their “Fixer Upper” program. Their Magnolia merchandise is carried predominately at Target, as well as in their own stores. They’ve presented themselves as a wholesome family with Christian values and many adored them, even in my own family. Then recently they branched out into a new Magnolia Network series “Back To The Frontier” and all the Christian beliefs they portrayed in the past went out the window when they decided to attract a broader woke “progressive” audience. Just like every other program that has embraced the alphabet mafia, they included two “married” gay men who had adopted two boys.

When their shocked Christian audience and supporters called them out on deviating from biblical values, they doubled down right out of the liberal LGBTQ+ playbook calling Bible-believing Christians hateful and unloving. But what they were really saying is the Bible is hateful and unloving because the Bible has plenty to say about marriage (Gen. 2:24, Mark 10:6-9) and sexual sin (Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13, Rom. 26-27, 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Jude 1:7). So they weren’t just disparaging Christians, they were blaspheming God’s Word.

In Forsaken God? Remembering The Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I wrote about what can happen when the church succumbs to the world normalizing sin. There is no such thing as a “progressive” Christian or church because that actually describes a progressive fall away from God. “Woke” is simply the current word used for worldly and wicked.

Here’s a short excerpt from my book.
“God’s ways never change no matter the century—his ways are timeless and perfect and designed for our good, not our harm. Regardless of how the populace or government tries to redefine or politicize morality, immorality always is detestable to God, as it should be to every Bible-believing Christian, and that’s what we must share with the next generation. When they ask why is sexual immorality worse than other sins? We answer them: Because it violates God’s holy temple—our body—created in his image, which is why he tells us to, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor. 6:18-20). We need to have these kinds of conversations straight from Scripture with our children and grandchildren.

Satan is hijacking high-profile liberal pastors and several mainline denominations who expound that: the Bible isn’t inerrant or relevant, God is a myth, Jesus is a legend, and the church needs to catch up with the culture. Essentially, they’re atheists trying to mask themselves as “progressive Christians,” as if they’ve discovered the true, open-minded Christianity that doesn’t need the Bible. Wolves in sheep’s clothing—straight out of Titus 1:15-16. Culture never trumps Scripture. Even if you’ve been a member for years of one of these denominations or churches that now succumbs to this unbiblical, satanical teaching—run—leave immediately, and take your family with you.

The ‘liberals’ defiantly ignore Jesus’ warning that Christians are in the world, but not of the world. And Jesus didn’t come to conform to the culture; he came to reform the culture.”

I don’t know what made the Gaines conform to the culture and normalize sin. Was it all the money they made from Target who supported the alphabet merchandise right next to theirs and the Gaines never spoke out against it? Was it the desire to make more money at the expense of losing their biggest base, Christians? Read more here.

You can agree or disagree with this statement, but when we watch high-profile pastors, ministers, worship leaders, influencers who claim to be Christians fall prey to Satan’s worldly cultural agenda, you have to question if they were ever truly saved? Did they ever have a born-again experience? Because if they did, the Holy Spirit would be residing in their heart telling them not to go the way of the world. When the powers of darkness takeover a mind, it will spin it to whatever political or cultural narrative they desire.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Eph. 4:30 NLT

“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

 “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?” Gal. 1:10

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Heb. 12:16

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15

God knows. God is ALWAYS watching!

Next, we see the apparent adulterous couple caught on a Kiss-Cam Jumbotron at a Coldplay concert where they thought they could hide their discretions amongst thousands of people. But there they were exposed on the big screen hugging not just for the concert people to see, but as they tried to hide, one of the performers laughingly said they were either camera shy or having an affair. These were two high profile people at a company and the married man who was a CEO has already resigned and embarrassed his company.

“For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.” Luke 12:2-3

“Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, ‘Who sees us?’ and, ‘Who knows us?’” Is. 29:15

God Knows. God is ALWAYS watching!

Then we see the exposure of a former president and his administration manufacturing a hoax against his successor that they thought would never be revealed. They didn’t hide their trail very well. Everything the Obama administration was treasonously doing, they tried to convince the American public that Trump was doing. They must’ve been so sure they could take him down even after he was elected, that they got sloppy as all the memos and emails of this “treasonous conspiracy” are being revealed now.  

They failed twice. First with Trump being elected in 2016 and he probably also won in 2020, but their trickery worked that year. Hard as they tried to scheme and use lawfare to keep him out of the White House again, he won with a landslide lead in 2024, even after narrow escapes from assassination attempts.

How could they not know the man they had so wrongly persecuted for the past ten years would eventually find them out? He is now much wiser to how low the dark deep state will go to try to maintain/regain power. But the American people are also wiser.

I just saw a meme: “Trump and Russia were the only ones NOT involved in the Russia Russia Russia hoax!” We laugh, but it’s diabolically sad that the media also propagated the lies that so many believed.

“For nothing concealed will not be disclosed, nor hidden that will not be known.” Luke 8:17

“Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.” Matt. 10:26

God knows. God is ALWAYS watching!

What Can We Learn From All of These Revelations?

I want to share with you what Devin Schubert wrote on Facebook regarding the Kiss Cam event, but it applies to everything we do as Christians as Schubert aptly concludes. I couldn’t say it any better.

“The kiss cam exposed more than a couple.

  • It exposed a truth we forget far too often:
  • Influence doesn’t turn off.
  • Not when you leave the office.
  • Not when the lights go down.
  • Not even when you think no one’s watching.
  • At a Coldplay concert this week, a CEO and his HR director got caught on camera.
  • Not at work.
  • Not on stage.
  • Just… in the crowd.
  • But that one moment of closeness?
  • Broadcasted to a stadium.
  • Then to the internet.
  • Then to the world.
  • Within hours, people had names, LinkedIn titles, marriage records, screenshots, apologies—real and fake.
  • Comments got shut down.
  • Accounts went private.
  • And the truth came crashing in:
  • What you do in secret eventually shows up in public.
  • What you build behind closed doors will always echo… good or bad.
  • Someone is always watching.
  • And someone is always learning from you.
  • So here’s what I want to say to every leader, coach, speaker, parent, entrepreneur, pastor, builder of anything:
  • Make sure your influence is worth following.
  • ✅Not just impressive—but integral.
  • ✅Not just polished—but pure.
  • ✅Not just inspiring—but honest.
  • Because you don’t lose influence overnight.
  • You lose it in quiet compromises.
  • And you gain it the same way.
  • One decision at a time.
  • One “no one’s watching” moment at a time.
  • Let this moment remind us:
  • You can influence with courage, or you can influence with compromise.
  • You can build for applause, or you can build for the Kingdom.
  • But only one lasts.
  • God sees what the cameras miss.
  • He rewards what man forgets.
  • And yes… grace is real, please don’t forget!
  • But so are consequences.
  • So lead well.
  • Live worthy.
  • Influence like it matters… because it always does.
  • We are people of legacy.
  • People of integrity.
  • And people of the Kingdom.
  • Let’s carry that with honor.” Devin Schubert

Integrity and character are who you are when you think no one is watching!

God knows. God is ALWAYS watching!

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Pr. 15:3

You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. Ps. 90:8

For Self-Reflection

I saw the following posted on a friend’s Facebook page and thought it was so appropriate for all of us. We don’t know who the original author is . . .

“The other day I was hanging out with a friend. This friend is a Christian, but she doesn’t always act, speak or think like one. Some days she is nearly completely in line with God’s Word, and some days her life is a struggle that gets the best of her.

As our eyes met, I really wanted to say something about it but I decided to let the Lord speak to her heart knowing nothing that I say will have the same impact as the Father’s words.

So…. I prayed with her, and after some time had passed I winked at her and walked away from the mirror.

I try every day and I fail every day. I am so not perfect, I am a work in progress and I’m thankful for God’s grace and His promises to His believers.”

God Knows. God is ALWAYS watching!

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Pr. 28:13

Please leave a comment here!

July 21, 2025
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Make the Church Bold and Courageous Again!

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How many times have you heard a pastor, maybe even your own pastor, say they weren’t allowed by the IRS to speak about political issues in the church for fear of losing their 501c3 tax status? Thus, they also avoided speaking about the Bible’s stance on immoral issues that had become political like same-sex marriage, abortion, homosexuality, sexual mutilation, sterilization, and grooming of children, children and adults trying to physically or emotionally alter their sex, the assault on women by men. . . and so much more.

Many well-meaning pastors and nonprofits subscribed to that perceived IRS threat to always remain bipartisan, some innocently and some cowardly. Today with the IRS repealing any penalty on political free speech in the church, we’re going to see a litmus test of how many pastors might’ve been hiding behind this unconstitutional infringement on church rights so they wouldn’t create waves in the congregation. Keep everyone happy, even at the cost of not speaking out against unbiblical laws, politicians, and social issues. Or will we see pastors relieved to be free to address political issues from a biblical perspective? I hope and pray it’s the latter.

The answer to the question in the opening picture: Yes, they can!

History of the Johnson Amendment

President Lyndon B Johnson in 1954 didn’t like the way some churches were speaking against him and his administration, so he silenced all churches and nonprofits by an amendment prohibiting them from speaking about any political issues to remain tax exempt! In other words, denying first amendment rights to churches and nonprofits as well as infringing on freedom of religion. Many pastors even refuse to discuss controversial biblical passages in the Bible. We’ve all watched the government politicize biblical moral issues, and for the most part the church has stood silent for fear of losing money. That could be another entire topic for a blog.

Consequently, we’ve seen prayer, the Bible, the name of Jesus, the Ten Commandments, and any spiritual or religious discussion removed from schools while the church for the most part stood by in silence. SCOTUS passed Roe v Wade and the church stayed silent about the atrocities of murdering unborn babies. Most churches even remained silent when it was overturned. During the Obama Administration, SCOTUS endorsed same-sex marriage. Another biblical abomination and crickets in most churches. That’s why Jesus said you can’t love money and God. “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Matt. 6:24

Many pastors, like Jack Hibbs at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California, have ignored the Johnson Amendment, just like they ignored the government trying to close their churches during COVID. They speak freely about voting godly men and women into positions of government who will fight for biblical values and laws.

Other bold pastors have said we don’t care if you take away our tax deductions, we’re going to be financially self-sufficient and preach and teach biblical truths whether it’s politically or socially correct. In the 2024 election, Harris spoke in churches and Biden before her. I didn’t hear anyone challenging them with the Johnson Amendment. In fact, I don’t think there’s ever been a case where a church or nonprofit lost their tax exemption over politics, because it’s an unconstitutional restriction on free speech so the IRS doesn’t enforce it.

Still most pastors stay neutral or silent when their parishioners need guidance in elections about voting for biblical principles or even the importance of voting. The statistics of Christians not voting is pathetically embarrassing because the majority of pastors don’t encourage them to vote. While others conduct voter registration at their church and speak of it as a civic duty of every American. Christians are not exempt from living under unfair and unbiblical laws enforced on them as we watched during the last administration. Think of the spiritual potential in America if ALL Christians voted.

We Must Pray!

We’re at this opportune juncture today because the National Religious Broadcasters association and two Texas churches sued the government over the Johnson Amendment infringement on free speech. Currently the DOJ, the 2 churches, IRS, and NRB’s litigation has a consent decree they’ve all agreed on to settle the case and rescind the unconstitutional Johnson Amendment. But at the last minute, the Americans United For Separation of Church and State (a lie) have intervened to object to derail the consent decree at the last moment. We need to pray the judge moves forward to finalize the settlement and denies the intervention.

It’s so obvious when you look at the two party’s platforms that we’ve gotten to the place today where I for one am not afraid to state that Satan has hijacked the Democrat party. They have become the party of murdering babies, sexually mutilating and indoctrinating children, deceiving vulnerable children that God made them wrong, endorsing sexual perversion, men playing in women’s sports, trying to eliminate womanhood, replacing American citizens with illegals, removing parental rights, promoting Marxists Communist candidates, lawfare against their opponents, encouraging violence and mayhem, defunding the police while attacking ICE agents. The church can now speak openly straight from the Bible, like many of us have already been doing, that these are all satanic fueled rituals.

I want to share with you next an explanation and encouragement I received from the Idaho Family Policy Center, which also offers a resource for pastors. This is going to be a big beautiful step for pastors to step out, speak out, and take a public biblical stand for righteousness in our government and shake off the cloak of fear that has plagued many in the past.

Friends,

Many pastors labor under the misconception that the Johnson Amendment prevents them from providing biblical commentary on hot button political and cultural issues.

This prevailing narrative has been pushed by anti-Christian groups hoping to bludgeon pastors into silence on issues about which the Bible speaks clearly, including the sanctity of human life, parental rights, religious freedom, and biblical sexuality and gender.

But here’s the thing: Even under the Johnson Amendment, churches have always been able to speak on political issues from a biblical perspective; they were prohibited only from engaging in campaign activities.

Thankfully, the IRS guidance promulgated earlier this week gives churches even more clarity on just how far they can go without running afoul of the Johnson Amendment and risking their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Importantly, the IRS guidance issued earlier this week clarifies that a church does not violate the Johnson Amendment when it “speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith.”

So what does this mean for churches? It seems that the IRS is acknowledging that churches do have the ability to speak into political campaigns—even going so far as to endorse a specific candidate from the pulpit as part of a regular worship service.

But the boundaries around when and how pastors and churches may endorse candidates are still blurry. It’s also worth noting that many states – including Idaho – have laws on the books regulating how non-profit churches can endorse candidates or support ballot initiatives. Those state laws remain wholly unaffected by the new IRS guidance.

While there is still some uncertainty about the full implications of this new IRS guidance, one thing is certain: It’s a step in the right direction. Churches are not meant to be passive bystanders in the public square—something the IRS is now explicitly acknowledging.

In the coming months, Idaho Family Policy Center will be releasing a toolkit to our Pastors’ Network outlining what exactly the decision of the IRS means and how Idaho churches should engage in political races moving forward.

If your pastors are not already a member of our Pastors’ Network, now is the perfect time to join. Encourage your pastors to sign up now so they receive the forthcoming Johnson Amendment toolkit when we release it—as well as other resources to help them engage culture from a biblical perspective!

Standing for a bold and courageous church,

Blaine Conzatti, President and Kent DelHousaye, Director of Church Engagement

Warrior Pastors

In the past, few pastors have been warriors willing to challenge the system and bravely speak biblical truth to demonic cultural issues that have become politicized by Satan’s twisted war plan. We need pastors, preachers, priests, and ministers to not be intimidated by fear or popular opinion. The Bible is not a feel good Book endorsing all our feelings and desires. It’s the Word of God, which can be challenging, sometimes convicting, but always life changing and spiritually maturing. The Bible draws us out of cowering in worldly darkness into the bright light of living a spirit-filled life.

You can’t read and teach the Bible without countering today’s woke liberal agenda. Ok pastors no more excuses. It’s your job and responsibility to discuss with your congregations political issues that are biblically wrong and how we should respond to today’s secular culture being imposed on citizens.

Speak up! Speak out! Be bold. Be Courageous. No more hiding behind the misconceptions of church and state or fear of losing tax exemption. The “state” has invaded the church and it’s past time to regain your right in the pulpit to stand for Truth and voting biblically as responsible Christian citizens.

Let’s join forces with our pastors and Make America Biblical Again!

When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan. Proverbs 29:2

If you haven’t read my blog When The Law Becomes Political Instead of Justice, many have been blessed by it.

Please leave your comments here.

July 14, 2025
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When The Law Becomes Political Instead of Justice

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Many of us grew up in an era that we may never again see. A time when there was respect and appreciation for law enforcement and judges ruled by the judicial law and Constitution, not personal beliefs or political activism.

Sadly, just like in the Book of Judges in the Bible, we’re now living in a time of good judges and bad judges. We’ve watched lawfare used as a political weapon that really became apparent during the 2020 election when anyone who questioned the validity of that election, like My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, were politically and judicially unfairly persecuted and even prosecuted. Mike is still fighting cases against him in court.

Thousands of people who merely attended January 6th or maybe just stepped inside the Capitol or on the lawn became political prisoners by the Biden Administration with harsh unjust sentences and abhorrent conditions in jail. Even grandmothers were jailed for praying on the grounds that day or for praying in front of abortion centers.

The Biden Department of Justice lied to Americans for four years insisting that the border was closed while 20+ million illegals and criminals flooded our country with no attempt to vet them or stop them. Unjust liberal partisan judges looked the other way and refused to impose federal law to close the border.

Then we saw unprecedented Democrat fueled lawfare against their political opponent Donald Trump. Cases were fabricated against him during the 2024 campaign to either imprison him or drain his funds. But in spite of this injustice, President Trump managed to win all the cases and achieve victory with both the popular and electoral presidential vote. Everything backfired on the partisan judges, DA’s, and liberal prosecutors.

But the Democrats weren’t through trying to stop Trump and his agenda to Make America Great Again. On PBS March 25, 2025, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged that Democrats intentionally implemented a court stacking strategy with the explicit aim of ruling against and countering President Donald Trump’s agenda. “The good news here is,” Schumer said, “we did put 235 judges—progressive judges, judges not under the control of Trump—last year on the bench, and they are ruling against Trump time after time after time.” Political partisan lawfare!

True to Schumer’s devious plan, every executive order or policy President Trump tried to enforce to protect and prosper America, the desperate Democrats found one of those activist progressive Democrat appointed judges, mostly in five liberal districts out of the nation’s 94 federal district courts, who were willing to go against his or her oath to uphold the law and instead try to politically block the Trump Administration with universal injunctions. Laying bare the Left’s strategy of political lawfare. 40 nationwide injunctions have been filed in just the first six months of this administration, already more than previous presidents incurred in their entire terms!

Senator from Louisiana, John Kennedy, put this all into perspective in one of his classic soundbites that burn. “Anybody who knows a law book from an L. L. Bean catalog knows that federal judges just made up the concept of universal injunctions to block President Trump’s agenda. If you disagree with a President or Congress, fill out a hurt feelings report—but you can’t put their actions on hold because you don’t like them.”

Again, the Democrats are guilty of using illegal and unfair lawfare to stop President Trump from fulfilling his promises to the American people. Fighting these rogue judges trying to be Kings of America from their tiny district courts wasted tons of money and lawyers time to fight for justice instead of being able to spend that money and expertise to enforce what we the people voted for in our country.

Then Victory!

The Book of Judges recounts the period in Israel’s history that highlights a cycle of disobedient, oppression by enemies and devious judges and deliverance by judges raised up by God. Key themes include good and failed leaderships, faithfulness versus apostasy, rebellion overcome by God’s sovereignty. Sounds a lot like today doesn’t it.

How do Judges “raised up by God” rule? Well, they set aside personal ambitions, beliefs, and politics to rule by following God’s laws and the government’s laws. In the case of the Supreme Court, they take an oath to make rulings according to the Constitution.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say for the most part the six “constitutionalist” Supreme Court Justices are the only ones out of the nine on the bench that adhere to their judicial oath, honesty, and nonpartisanship. There are times when they disagree and will even side with the liberal judge’s view, something the three liberal judges seldom or NEVER will do.

I don’t think anyone can deny the three liberal SCOTUS justices rule primarily together based on political, progressive social ideology, and Democrat persuasion and activism. If the numbers were reversed and there were only three conservative judges, we’d be living in the time of the Book of Judges where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. (Judges 21:25) Sadly, in Democrat controlled cities and states that verse describes the exact chaos and destruction we see today.

Praise God, last week SCOTUS ruled 6 to 3 “that the universal injunctions that U.S. district courts in each case hit the administration with, blocking implementation, ‘likely exceeds the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts.’” In other words, local and federal district courts can’t rule over the entire nation. District judges issuing injunctions that affect the entire nation are overstepping their authority.

What’s notable here is the 3 Democrat Justices who voted against U.S. law that district judges are limited to the jurisdiction of their particular court display their own hypocrisy and addiction to lawfare.

Those three liberal Justices voted in favor of illegal lawfare. Even though, some of them have spoken out against nationwide injunctions in the past, including Justice Elena Kagan. Speaking on a panel at Northwestern University School of Law in 2022, Justice Kagan condemned “forum shopping” based on who’s the sitting U.S. President: ‘In the Trump years, people used to go to the Northern District of California, and in the Biden years, they go to Texas. It just can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks.’” Yet, last week, she voted in favor of district judges making nationwide injunctions?!

Justice Amy Coney Barrett was appalled at Justice Jackson’s ridiculous argument that skipped analysis of relevant readings because they involved “boring ‘legalese.’” Since Jackson showed her obvious ignorance of American law prohibiting rogue state judges from ruling over the nation, Barrett wrote in her own argument: “We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself . . . she decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary!”

A well-deserved dress down of a truly illiterate activist Justice who you might recall could not define what a woman was in her confirmation hearings. Sadly, even with her biased incompetence, and dare I say DEI and maybe autopen hire, she may be on the court for a long time.

While we don’t personally vote for the Supreme Court Justices, we do vote for the Presidents who pick them. Had President Trump not appointed three conservative Constitutional Justices in his first term, as I said earlier, our country would be a far different place.

Not only did the three liberal judges dissent against restricting district liberal partisan judges from trying to rule the country, they also voted against letting parents protect their children from LGBTQ propaganda in school and against protecting children from pornography!

What Does the Bible Say to Us About Justice?

There is a legitimate concern for justice in our world today. However, to achieve justice for the world, we must better understand how God views it. God is merciful but Scripture also tells us that He is a just God who will judge injustice and wrongs. God sees hearts and minds and will judge all men and women.

The Bible emphasizes that justice is a fundamental aspect of God’s character, calling believers to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). It teaches that God will judge both the righteous and the wicked and encourages followers to seek justice and care for the vulnerable (Isaiah 1:17, Romans 12:19). Here are some other verses where God speaks of His justice.

 I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.” Ecc. 3:17

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” Heb. 10:30

When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. Pr. 21:15

Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them. Pr. 24:24-25

Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully. Pr. 28:5

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Rom. 12:19

A handful of activist judges should never have the power to shut down a presidency OR silence the will of the American people.

 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24

Please leave your comments here, even if you don’t agree with me!

June 30, 2025
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“We Love You God!”—President Donald J Trump

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“God has an answer to everything the enemy tries to do!” Dutch Sheets

I hope during these tumultuous times you believe that while it might seem like Satan is in control of the world right now, as Pastor Dutch Sheets reminds us, God provides a way to combat every strike from the enemy, even though it’s so difficult living in any of the countries experiencing war right now.

Last Saturday night, President Trump gave the order for Midnight Hammer to take out Iran’s nuclear program. Because of Iran’s ambition to annihilate Israel and America, it’s doubtful they would’ve ever honored an agreement to stop building nuclear weapons.

Iran has chanted for decades, “death to Israel,” who they consider “Little Satan,” and “death to America, “Great Satan.” Iran is a sponsor of terror aimed at all Judeo/Christian countries. Their ideological, religious, and political goal is to establish Jihadist Islam across the globe. I can remember over a decade ago when they were saying they would infiltrate America from the inside starting with planting Muslims who practice Islam into the United States Congress. Today we have at least two maybe more in Congress who continually denounce America as “one of the worst countries in the world.”

Deep in the heart of Texas, just outside of Dallas, there’s pushback against an attempt to build a planned community, “Epic City,” a totally Muslim City with Sharia law. In their plans to create a neighborhood of 1,000 homes, a K-12 faith-based school, apartments, shops, a community college and a mosque, the developers of a 400-acre planned Muslim community made one crucial misstep: They advertised their intentions and Governor Abbott is attempting to stop these plans.

We have no idea how many sleeper cells are in our country after the Biden Administration let millions of unvetted illegals cross the border.

Trump doesn’t want to enter into war with any country, yet he also knows he has to protect America and our ally Israel from an enemy that thinks it’s their religious calling to eradicate the Judeo/Christian faith.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a Theocracy run by religious leaders who are part of a sect of Islam know as Twelver Shi’iism with a particular eschatology that involves the destruction of both Israel and America, along with any country with primarily Judeo/Christian beliefs. Sunday two churches in America had a terrorist attack and an Islamic State suicide bomber claimed 22 lives at Saint Elias Church in Damascus, Syria.

The remainder of this blog I actually wrote Saturday afternoon before the world learned of our Commander-in-Chief’s decision to use military force to prevent the military leaders of Iran from having the capability of achieving their pathological obsession of destroying two countries that predominately worship God, to establish a one-world Islamic religion. A belief system blinded by the spirit of hate, antisemitism, and antichrist.

I want to share what I wrote before the bombing to underscore and emphasize how much the prayers of the people were influencing President Trump’s final decision. If you listened to President Trump’s address to the nation after Midnight Hammer was successfully executed, it’s clear he felt the prayers as he emotionally closed with, “I want to thank everyone and in particular I want to say, God, we love You God!”

The Power of Our Prayers!

I think Ambassador Mike Huckabee put it best in his note to President Trump when he said, “Mr. President, God spared you in Butler, PA to be the most consequential President in a century—maybe ever. The decision on your shoulders I would not want to be made by anyone else. You have many voices speaking to you Sir, but there is only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice . . . You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU!”

That last sentence reminds us of the Book of Esther when Mordecai told Queen Esther in 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” The Jews at that time were also being threatened of extension by Persia, modern day Iran.

Franklin Graham wrote on Facebook, “Will you join me in lifting up President Donald J. Trump in prayer? From our earthly view, we see ominous storm clouds gathered around the globe. With Iran and Israel engaged in war, Russia and Ukraine in continued deadly conflict, China imposing an imminent threat to Taiwan, war in Sudan, and more, it seems as though the whole world is on the brink of fracturing. Our President needs wisdom and strength from God. The decisions he is called upon to make will affect each one of us, our country, and the entire world. I pray that God will direct his steps as he leads our nation through the most turbulent times we have experienced in decades. The Bible tells us, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:7).

I would add the rest of Matthew 24:7-8, “There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” Iran experienced an earthquake last week. There’s no doubt we’re experiencing the birth pains that will come before the rapture and the 7-year tribulation. How long will the birth pains last? Only God knows.

I also encourage you to read other evangelical leaders’ comments praising President Trump’s continued support for Israel amid war with Iran. Here’s the link.

The Bible Speaks to Us Today!

There are numerous examples in the Old Testament of Israel, God’s chosen people, fighting for their very existence. The Bible is full of wars and every time someone came against Israel, they had to pay. Israel always came out OK. God loves Israel.  

While taking my morning walk a few days ago, I was listening to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. You’ve probably heard 2 Chronicles 7:14 recited many times, “14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” We pray that verse over America, especially regarding turning from cultural wicked ways, and we should continue praying because the only thing that will actually save America is a spiritual revival.

Sadly, we’ve let much of our nation be turned over to demons. Just look at the faces and actions of the people raging violently in streets against everything good and holy. It’s a reminder of the man in Mark 5, possessed by the many demonic evil spirits called Legion.

The spirit of evil and lawlessness that we’re experiencing in our culture today, doesn’t rule Christians. Only God can change a heart. We must pray against the evil violence and rebellion we’re watching in the streets and college campuses in our country during America’s spiritual war, and what we might see in the coming weeks. Which leads to God speaking to me through 2 Chronicles chapter 15 and how it applies not only to Israel, but also to America. Verses 1-4 are so relevant today.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them. 4 But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him out, they found him.

The same is true today. When we seek the Lord with all our heart, we will find Him.

5 “During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of every land. 6 Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem. 7 But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”

Resembles our dark times today.

9 Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. For many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa’s reign when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 

I hope this is the same reward for Israel and America and that the Lord God is with President Trump and Netanyahu as they seek God’s wisdom and direction. President Trump established a White House faith office that I know is interceding, worshipping, probably singing, and praying for President Trump’s every move.

14 They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lord with trumpets blaring and rams’ horns sounding. 15 All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.

Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion,” is inspired by Numbers 23:24, “Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion.” The phrase reflects themes of strength, resolve, and readiness to confront threats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly embraced this symbolism, even placing a prayer note mentioning the verse at the Western Wall just before the operation began…. Read more at: https://vajiramandravi.com/current-affairs/operation-rising-lion/

As much as we pray for peace in Israel, we must be praying for them to know Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Lamb of God, who died for them and is alive today fighting for them in the heavenlies. Pray for the spiritual salvation of every Jew and that their eyes will open to see that their Redeemer lives and loves them. Sadly, Israel is for the most part missing that great truth. Let’s pray for the Jewish people to have a revelation and a spiritual revival.

Amazingly, the underground church in Iran is “the fastest growing church in the world,” at over 19% increase a year. The Iranian people are coming to faith, and this is largely a woman led movement. We need to pray for them too.

“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.” Rev. 5:5-6

I leave you today with a prayer from Ken Blackwell.
Almighty God, our Rock and Redeemer,

We humbly come before You with grateful hearts to lift up President Donald J. Trump. You alone establish leaders and kingdoms, and we trust in Your sovereign hand over this nation. Lord, we ask that You surround President Trump with divine strength for the battles he faces—seen and unseen. Grant him wisdom rooted in Your truth, courage to stand firm against evil, and discernment to walk in righteousness, even when the path is steep.

Preserve his health, O Lord—renew his mind, body, and spirit daily. Place a hedge of protection around him and his family. Let no weapon formed against him prosper.

May he seek Your counsel above all, and may his leadership reflect Your justice, mercy, and steadfast love. Raise up godly counselors around him who do not waver in the face of adversity.

Father, we pray not only for his strength, but for the restoration of our nation. Heal our land. Turn the hearts of Americans back to You. Let truth reign, and let the foundations of faith, family, and freedom be restored.

Let President Trump be an instrument of Your purpose—bold in conviction, humble in spirit, and steadfast in pursuit of what is good and true. We commit him into Your hands, trusting in Your perfect plan. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray, Amen.

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June 23, 2025
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5 Prayers When You Need Peace and Calm

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We’re living today in what seems like constant chaos. If you’re aware of current events, you know it feels like evil is overtaking good. Every news cycle carries another tragedy or escalated war both abroad and here in our own beloved country. It can seem overwhelming and depressing because it might seem like Satan has the upper hand, but as Christians, we know that Satan is the temporary ruler of earthly chaos and Jesus Christ is the eternal heavenly Prince of Peace.

We do live in a fallen world that thrives on keeping us fearfully treading from one crisis to the next. It seems like every morning we wake up to a new peril: Covid variants, alarming statistics, recession, inflation, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, riots, anarchy, plane crashes, senseless horrific murders, wars, violence, antisemitism, political clashes, protesters . . . even the threat of the enemy attacking us from within with all the unvetted illegals allowed to cross into our country.

In unsettling times, by the time I finish writing this article, there will probably be a new tragedy. But as Christians, we must remember that at all times we can find our peace in the presence of the Lord. He is the only effective cure and antidote to treat and temper the contagious epidemic of fear and evil we see all around us today.

Sensational media headlines keep us stressed, agitated, and fearful because fear-fueled news sells. Press-induced or politically motivated panic will stoke more pandemic fear and consequences than the source of the crisis. Stay current with pertinent news that might affect you personally, but don’t overwhelm yourself reading everything written on the internet or listening to multiple “news” programs. Find trusted truth tellers that will give you facts not opinions.

Then there are our own financial, physical, relational, health, and personal crises that often catch us by surprise and strike terror into our heart. We feel helpless as events seemingly spin out of our control.

Fear is a powerful human emotion that can cause us to respond inappropriately or motivate us to take positive action.

Or fear has the ability to paralyze us from taking any action. Fear can even stop us from turning to God, our Rescuer, who knows every personal and world disruption we will face. His timeless Word, the Bible, has all the answers and antidotes to keep us calm, cool, and collected. God assures us, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

We want to trust God but there are times when peace eludes us. We’re worried and anxious. We don’t want to be brave this time. Then God reminds us, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Courage is Fear that Prays and Calls on God.

I’m going to do something different this week and offer five prayers I hope will help you faithfully transcend from panic to peace. I prayed these prayers myself as I wrote each one out for you in first person to personalize and provide Scriptures to also pray.

1. Take Your Worries to the Lord

Lord, I know that Satan created the spirit of fear, anxiety, doubt, and worries to torture and entrap my mind and rob me of my joy, peace, and sleep. When what-ifs wake me in the dark of night, please help me to denounce Satan and remember 1 Peter 5:7 where you say internal peace is as simple as casting all my anxiety on you because you care for me. I am comforted that you see into the depths of my heart and the intricacies of my mind where unhealthy fears dwell. You already know what’s troubling me, but you want to hear me share my concerns with you to release the stronghold grip they have on my thoughts and emotions.

Father, I trust that you don’t want me to waste a moment of my life fretting. Please calm my racing heart and fill my troubled mind with hope and my spirit with peace. Assure me that no weapon formed against me will prosper and you have a plan and a purpose for me in this time of turmoil. Show me your ways Lord and grant me the courage to follow where you lead. Amen

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Isaiah 26:3 NLT

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

2. Believe God Hears Your Prayers

Lord, it saddens me that many people don’t understand the power of prayer and even mock me for taking my worries to you in prayer. So I pray first for those who do not believe in you. Where is their hope? I’ll admit that sometimes you seem silent when I so desperately want to hear from you. It’s torture waiting on you, and yet I will wait because I know my prayers are not in vain.

I don’t know if the latest crisis will affect my family or me, but you are omniscient Lord, so I pray that you will spare us. But if fallout touches any of my loved ones, please comfort them with your healing balm. Sometimes our own choices can put us at risk. So Lord, I pray that we would all be judicious in our actions and interactions. I can remain in perfect peace because I put my future in your capable hands. Amen

“You came near when I called you, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’” Lamentations 3:57

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
    will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    he is my God, and I trust him.” Psalm 91:1-2 (NLT)

3. Pray with Expectancy and Anticipation

Lord, as I pray with confidence and great expectation, I anticipate your gracious answers to my prayers. When I remember your faithfulness to all generations, excitement and eagerness replace concern and discouragement. Please help me to remember that doubt and faith can’t coexist in my heart. If I’m doubting or anxious, my shield of faith has slipped.

God I know that you’re looking at the big picture and I can only see a small glimpse distorted by my confusion and perspective. I realize that having faith doesn’t mean there won’t be setbacks or difficult times, but if I’m going to enlist your mighty powers, then I must prayerfully trust that your will is done on earth as it is in heaven. I pray for a miracle of your design.

Your answer isn’t always what I want to hear, or the option I was hoping for, but whatever it is I will give you the glory because regardless of the outcome, my eternity is with you. Thank you Lord for your Son Jesus Christ enduring the brutal cross for victory over our sins and sicknesses and I claim that victory in my life and for my loved ones. Amen

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’” Psalm 46:10

4. Remain Wise and Discerning

Lord, I want desperately to take your Word to heart, but a tsunami of negativity and fear engulf me. My thoughts wander to worse case scenarios. I need your insight to diligently untangle truthful facts from embellished hysteria. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in filtering out what I should avoid listening to or considering.

Infuse me Lord with discernment and wisdom. Give me clarity of mind and heart. Guard my mouth that I don’t spread gossip or hearsay to alarm others. Help me to exhibit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Like the apostle Paul, may I learn the secret of being content in all circumstances, knowing that I can do all things through you who gives me strength to fulfill your desires. Praise you Lord, Amen

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Proverbs 1:5

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-6

5. Look for Opportunities to Comfort Others

Lord, we won’t live in a perfect world until we join you in heaven. This current situation won’t be the last crisis for the world or for me. I can’t outrun, outpace, outdo, outsmart, outlive . . . trouble. It has a way of popping up even in the good and prosperous seasons in the culture, my life, and the lives of those around me.

Lord, quiet my raging emotions so that I can be a beacon of healing love and peace to those in my sphere of influence who are overwhelmed by panic and fear. Please help me memorize John 14:1 to share with others who ask me where my peace comes from: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” These are the words that your Son Jesus Christ spoke to His disciples to comfort them and they also give me comfort when I don’t know how the story ends. Use me Lord as your disciple to bring healing to a hurting world. I love you Lord, Amen.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

After You’ve Prayed . . .

Taking recommended and reasonable steps to protect yourself and your loved ones will give you a sense of control that helps to manage uncertainties. Prudently, continue your normal activities that typically bring you joy. Healthy coping mechanisms like exercise, rest, eating properly, reading your Bible, staying connected to friends and family, and listening to praise music can help soothe frazzled nerves. If you have medical anxiety, contact your doctor.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Please leave a comment here.

June 16, 2025
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When the Church Loses Its Voice, the World Loses Its Mind!

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I wonder how many of you, my readers, agree with the title of this blog? For those who don’t agree, I’d really like to know why. But don’t feel too smug if you do agree, because my question to you would then be, “Why is the church losing its voice?” Or “Are you attending a church that’s lost its voice?” Or getting personal, “Are you a Christian who’s lost your voice?”

I imagine if I were to do a man-on-the street interview and ask people, “What is sin?” few would know the answer. Some might say murder, but then if you ask if they’re in favor of abortion they’d probably say yes. Some might say stealing is a sin, but many states turn a blind eye to people openly stealing in their stores for fear of retaliation.

Or are you someone who says it’s not my problem. I just want to go to church to feel good, be encouraged, and not challenged out of my safe comfort zone. And by the way, I wish you would quit making me uncomfortable. Christians are just supposed to love everyone and let people do what they want, even if that means tolerating blatant cultural sin. It’s not my business what other people choose to do.

How well is that turning out for civilization? Need I remind you how the world is losing its mind? Here’s just a few examples.

Christians in Seattle were celebrating life at a Don’t Mess with Our Kids Mayday event giving free haircuts, food, bikes, and messages from de-transitioned trans. They were violently attacked by hundreds of Antifa wearing gas masks and far-left alphabet mafia throwing urine balloons at families and children, spraying them with pepper spray and tear gas, threatening a teenager with a knife saying, “I want to slit your throat,” and performing lewd sexual acts in front of the children. The violence sent many attenders and police to the hospital. Pastor Russell Johnson said, “As soon as the music started, it felt like all of hell broke loose.”

The Seattle mayor made a statement justifying the violence and blaming the Christians for inciting the attackers by just being at a park where the city had given them a permit. 23 Seattle pastors supported the mayor’s comments blaming the Christians for being out in public with their first amendment event and gospel message of love and forgiveness?! The Seattle Times called it “facist family values” on the front page.

In Minnesota, a 17-year old six-foot male pitcher on a girls’ softball team pitched a complete game and added two doubles to lead his team to a slam-dunk victory and he was awarded “All-Tournament Team” honors. His mother petitioned to have his birth certificate changed from boy to girl and his name changed from Charlie Dean to “Marissa” at nine years old! One of many heartbreaking stories of mentally ill men dashing the dreams, hopes, and ambitions of women athletes by being allowed by schools and sports organizations to abuse girls!

No mentally stable boy pretends he’s a girl or dresses like a girl. In some cases, it’s just an insane desire to win at any cost, even against girls. This should never be allowed by any adult in a sane world.

Also in Minnesota, voters elected to Congress a man who dresses as a woman and goes by “Leigh” who introduced a bill to legislate access to sex change surgeries and hormones for children.

Democrat Congressmen and Senators demand illegal criminals, gang members, and monsters be retained in our country to threaten the lives of American citizens.

Antisemitism is rampant on college campuses. A young Jewish couple was assassinated by a man yelling “free, free Palestine” on the streets of D.C. and elderly Jews marching to free Hamas hostages were set on fire by an Egyptian terrorist in Boulder, Colorado.

I could go on. You can’t make this insanity up because it’s actually too real today. The world has lost its mind, and the worst part is adults should have the conscience and morality to know the difference between good and evil. Instead, they’re becoming vessels for the devil to use to do his dirty work.

Satan has his eye on impressionable children and it’s working. Even ten years ago, there wasn’t gender confusion in children and adults would’ve never stood for it. Now you have mothers like Charlie Dean’s above allowing their young children to castrate and sterilize themselves before they’re out of grade school. Yet most of those parents probably wouldn’t let them drink, do drugs, or drive because they’re not mature enough to be allowed to endanger their lives or the lives of others. Still they let them destroy their own bodies! A satanic ritual.

A middle school in Portland didn’t tell parents that they instructed students to “dress like a drag queen or king and their “queer hero” during school’s “Pride Spirit Week.” They were to “wear as many colors as they could” for “Rainbow-Out’ day on Monday. Tuesday they were told to wear all black “in remembrance of lost members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Wednesday was “Drag Day.” Thursday was “Queer Hero Day.” Friday students were told to “dress up as the pride flag of your choice.”

Currently, there’s anarchy and rioting in the streets of Los Angeles because ICE arrested the “worst of the worst” illegal criminals who had committed heinous crimes. The rioters are fighting to keep violent rapists, murderers, child predators loose on Los Angeles streets.

What we’re watching is the spirit of the antichrist. If you look at liberal protestor’s signs, no matter what they’re protesting, they don’t just hold up signs for the issue at hand. You’ll see signs for “Pro abortion.” “Pro Hamas terrorists.” “Free Palestine.” “Pro gay marriage.” “Pro trans.” “Keep your religion out of my uterus.” “Pro choice.” “Ban Police.” “Eliminate ICE.” “Abortion is normal.” Just to name a few and many are so profane and vulgar, I wouldn’t give them space here.

What do those all have in common? The spirit of the antichrist—sin.

When Will the Church Find Its Voice?

When the Church goes silent, we give the spirit of the antichrist free reign, even in the church.

I commend pastors like Russell Johnson of Pursuit Church in Seattle who refused to let the mayor get away with blaming the innocent Christians for the violence of the masked violent protesters. The Tuesday after the weekend assault, Pastor Johnson formed a group of Seattle residents of all faiths, nonfaith, conservatives, liberals, and anyone appalled at what happened to them. They gathered on the steps of City Hall and demanded the mayor apologize or resign. Sadly, the major, who professes to be a “Christian,” only doubled down saying the Christians did not represent the values of Seattle! He’s definitely a “Christian” in name only, just like the pastors who refused to support Pastor Johnson and the Christian outreach event.

Pastor Johnson is continuing the fight for right and he won’t be silenced. He has a hard battle in Seattle, which like many Democrat run blue cities, is overtaken with evil right now as we’re watching in the streets of LA. California has Pastor Jack Hibbs and Rob McCoy leading the spiritual battle there and I’d love to hear of others.

Worship leader, Sean Feucht is taking his ministry into the fiercest of battlegrounds. What a joy to see people being baptized in metal tubs on the streets. Jenny Donnley, leader of “Don’t Mess with Our Kids” who sponsored the Seattle event, a few days later went to Hollywood Boulevard in California. They too were baptizing in the streets. At the last minute, California pulled their permit for Hollywood Boulevard and tried to move them to a quiet street, but Jenny would have none of it. They set up on the busy Hollywood Boulevard anyway! A brave and bold mama bear.

Every time I see these street baptisms, I think of our church’s beautiful baptismal that I’ve only seen used a couple of times and it breaks my heart.

We Can’t be Afraid of the Sinners

Growing up going to Sunday school and church, there was never a question of what was sin. We were told from a young age that lying, stealing, murder, sexual promiscuity, adultery, disobeying our parents, and so much more were sinful and wrong. We knew that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

As Christians, our commission is to share the Good News with those who will listen and those who won’t listen. Jenny Donnley shared that in the midst of the chaos in Seattle, they kept on with their event in spite of the attacks and she saw one tall man in a dress wander over to listen to the message and singing and was later baptized!! That’s what it’s all about. Even if one sinner is saved.

For most of my lifetime, I heard Reverend Billy Graham speak loud and clear in stadiums and on TV proclaiming that yes, the wages of sin is death, but Jesus died to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. Whether you were a believer or not, you knew when he was speaking to you if you were sinning. Pastors weren’t afraid to preach about sin to their congregations but also give them the Good News that Christ died on the Cross so you could repent and receive forgiveness. They clearly gave the message of salvation. Today, Billy Graham’s son Franklin and grandson Will carry on his legacy of preaching the truth.

Sadly, speaking against sin is now considered hateful and political. That’s just a ploy of the enemy and tragically many churches and pastors have accepted the devil’s lie and refrain from applying the Bible to today’s culture. So the world has lost its mind, morals, and common sense. If you’re in a church that speaks the truth of the Gospel loud and clear, then I would also expect you to be a Christian not only appalled at today’s culture where sin is celebrated and legalized, but you are also vocal against it.

We can each be a part of the church that finds our voice and uses it for the glory of God and the eternal life of so many whose ultimate fate is eternal separation from God. I’m crying right now just thinking of what that means for so many who are deceived and demonized. When Satan finds a vulnerable or unsaved soul, he moves in with the spirit of the antichrist and uses that person to do his dirty work.

“The antichrist symbol represents opposition to Christ and is associated with various interpretations in Christian eschatology. It can also be linked to imagery from the Book of Revelation, where the Antichrist is depicted as a deceptive figure opposing Jesus Christ.” While we haven’t yet seen “the Antichrist” spoken of in Revelation, his spirit precedes him in today’s culture. Watching blatant sin tolerated, legalized, indoctrinated, and systematized today, it’s obvious the Antichrist man is not far away. The Good News is that those of us who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior will be raptured before the Antichrist takes control during the seven-year tribulation, but if you ever wondered what the lead up to those seven years looks like, you’re living it right now!

And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 1 John 2:22 NLT

Too often, the church stays silent in the face of the opposition to Jesus Christ in our culture. The church has lost its voice. I hope and pray you haven’t lost your voice, even if your church has lost its voice.

“The Bible says to resist the devil and he must flee [James 4:7], and it’s high time for the church to take a stand and resist him.” Pastor Tony Suarez

But resistance requires action. It’s time for the Church to rise, speak truth, and push back against darkness. We’re not called to retreat, we’re called to stand!

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Eph. 6:11

“Stupid ideas are becoming sacred and then influence the cultural lens.” Seth Gruber, White Rose Ministry.

I wrote a blog last week, “Let’s Celebrate June as Life Month!” I hope you’ve done something to celebrate life this month.

Here’s a Crosswalk article I wrote to share with anyone going through a difficult health journey, or maybe that’s you. 5 Prayers to Trust God with a Difficult Health Journey

If you know someone deceived into thinking they’re not sinning because they’re a “celibate” gay “Christian,” this is an excellent article. Why the label ‘gay Christian’ is terribly unwise

Please leave your comments here. I do read and answer every comment.

June 9, 2025
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Let’s Celebrate June as “Life Month”

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I’ve always looked forward to June as the official kickoff of my favorite summer season. But like many of you, I’ve found myself dreading being inundated and assaulted with a fringe activist group trying to force their choice of lifestyle on the public. Pride parades and rainbow flags mock and jeer at the very God who withholds his righteous judgment on the earth.

The entire gay/trans agenda is about attempting to normalize perverted sexual desires and actions taken out of bedrooms and flaunted in streets, stores, commercials, entertainment, media, government, sports, schools . . . culture. “Gay” or “trans” has become such a part of culture that many intelligent people have disassociated it from what it actually is all about, SEX!

Terms like gay, trans, and even pride make the perverted sexual movement sound mild and neutral, which is their goal. How many people would be comfortable having heterosexism indecently displayed in public on flags and paraded down the streets? Why then do we tolerate homosexual displays?

Most people have just closed their eyes and ears, taken a big gulp, and bought into the lie that they have to smile and “tolerate” lewd sexual immorality. Any pushback called “hate” or “intolerance.” Well, God does hate this behavior. He doesn’t tolerate sin, and if you’re a Bible-believing Christian, you shouldn’t either. We don’t have to tolerate perversity.

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. Pr. 8:13

We show love to our own families, friends, congregants, and culture when we help people choose a lifestyle pleasing to God. When we go along with pride in sexual perversity, we’re going counter to God.

Every family encounters prodigals of some sort, but that doesn’t make their ungodly choices right just because they’re our children, friends, or family members. We acknowledge that their behavior is sinful and wrong and passionately pray for them to find their way to God or back to God. If we truly believe in heaven and hell, we want our children and family in heaven with us. If they’ve chosen sin, whatever it might be, they’ve chosen hell. It breaks our hearts, but it breaks God’s heart even more.

Long before June was designated as sin month, June 2 has been the day for 24 years that thousands of people from around the world join in a day of prayer for those who are walking away from God, their families and making destructive choices. We don’t celebrate prodigals, we pray for their eyes to open and turn from their wicked ways so why would any Christian participate in pride activities except to evangelize in love.

An encouraging headline jumped out at me as I was preparing to write this blog. “Boise Pride Season Kickoff canceled due to low attendance.” I first saw the article on Idaho Liberty Dogs Facebook page. Their introduction to the post read, “Shout out to those of you who stood with us last year to protest Nampa Pride “all ages event” and exposed the public nudity that occurred around the presence of children. This is a win! Thank you and congratulations!!!”

So many things to unpack from this, but the one that stands out the loudest to me is that moral common sense citizens stood up against the lewd perversion and public sexual exposure openly flaunted and even celebrated on the streets of Idaho. We can make a difference when we’re brave enough and bold enough to speak out against sin and satan.

Yes, satan! Only deceived and demonized people would think a public display of perverted sex would be acceptable to God or Jesus. Yet, sadly, there are churches and so-called “Christians” who proudly fly the perverted sex flag in the name of inclusivity, which actually excludes the God they profess to worship.

Why do I say “so-called?” Because no Bible-believing Christian can read Scriptures like the following and think a perverted sinful lifestyle is okay with God. God loves everyone, but he doesn’t love sin. He wants everyone to repent from sin, turn from their wicked ways, ask for forgiveness and repent. That’s what love does. God doesn’t want anyone going to hell, but the road to heaven is narrow and few actually choose it.

 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9-10

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matt, 7:13-14

Remember the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? According to Genesis 19, the sin involved homosexuality. The very name of that ancient city is where the term sodomy derives: “copulation between two men, whether consensual or forced.” Clearly, homosexuality was part of why God destroyed the two cities. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to perform homosexual acts on what they thought were two men.

 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” Lev. 18:22

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. Roman 1:26-28

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 6:23

Why June Is “Life Month”

When you look at the above Scriptures how many of you would tolerate a month dubbed “Thieves Month”? Or “Adulterer’s Month”? Or “Pornography Month”? Or “Murderers Month”? Or “Drunkards Month”? So why would anyone, especially Christians, even use the term or acknowledge “Pride Month” when God hates pride, especially when it represents a sexual sin He calls an abomination.

I’ve heard suggestions to rename June Veteran’s Month or Family month and those are good ideas too, but here’s why I’m in favor of calling June Life Month.

A commentary by Owen Strachan in The Washington Stand, “June Is Life Month, Not Pride Month,” Owen wrote:

“From many angles, the entire tone of June in America has shifted. It is one of aggressive approval of a heart attitude that the Word of God rebukes in no uncertain terms: pride. To be proud in one’s natural instincts and desires is to go against God at full velocity. It is to put oneself under certain threat of eternal judgment. Sin, after all, is at base nothing other than pride — it is choosing one’s way over God’s way, and one’s instinctual desires over God’s eternal truth. How we Christians should tremble and pray for all who exult in Pride Month. How we should reach out to them, and proclaim Christ in love to fellow sinners just like us.”

As Christians, we should be commemorating and celebrating that in June 2022, the U. S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. God decided to strike Roe down in the very middle of Pride Month! Think about that. As Owen Strachan says, “What a rebuke! What an otherworldly intervention. . . believers should celebrate genuinely God-given victories. We who are saved by grace would be ungrateful children indeed if we did not honor this great outcome in the public square, one akin to the ban on slavery in Wilberforce’s day. Toward that end, here’s my encouragement: all through June, celebrate “Life Month.””

Yes, God is love and God loves life! He created life and we should celebrate that especially as Christians!

When my grandson was only nine years old, he could see that God was against homosexuality because “there would be no people.” He understood at that young age that a man and woman having sex together created life, something two men or two women together cannot do because that wasn’t God’s plan for sex or proliferating the earth.

Many homosexuals and male women imposters have experienced trauma, difficult family dynamics, or mental illness. They’re searching for love and acceptance literally in all the wrong places. Young people are groomed and radicalized on TikTok. This is tragic.

A generation is throwing away their future by trying to be something God never intended for them to be. They believe the lie that they would be happier if they could just become another gender or find their significance and identity by pretending they’re something they’ll never be. They’re broken people with damaged lives, and the Gospel is the only answer to the void in their hearts they’re trying so desperately to fill. They need Jesus. They need to know that they’ll find their identity and self-worth in being the best man or woman God created them to be.

We need to be Christians who share the truth with them in love. Pray for the lost and show them a better way of living. Pray diligently for anyone living a lie to seek spiritual and psychological counseling.

Neil Mamann of Values Advocacy Council says, “In my conversations with former homosexuals, many shared that what kept them from hearing the Gospel was being told they were going to hell simply for being gay. What ultimately led them to Christ, however, was hearing the Gospel from people who, while never condoning their sin, genuinely cared for them and shared that Jesus loved them. After coming to faith, they came under conviction and chose to leave that lifestyle.”

So, I encourage you not to be silent this month. Don’t be intimidated or threatened by a pagan culture. Don’t go along to get along. You’ll never find that acceptable in the Bible. The most loving thing you can do for all people is to share the Gospel loud and clear and pray that many who have been deceived by satan’s message of deception and lies will hear God’s message of love and forgiveness not just in June but every day until Christ’s return.

I hope you’ll celebrate June as Life Month. Look for opportunities to counter evil with good!

“The gospel needs to go to the place where it is the least welcome.” Pastor Gabriel Render

PS I was confirmed about writing this blog when I prayed this morning with Pastor Jack Hibbs on his daily LIFT prayer June 1, 2025. You can listen here and join us every morning on Facebook or YouTube.

If you have a prodigal or know someone who does, you will find Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter: Hope, Help & Encouragement for Hurting Parents applicable to daughters, sons, and grandchildren.

Please leave a comment here.

June 2, 2025
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